Leukocyte Telomere Length Correlates with Extended Female Fertility

Abstract

Current social trends of delayed reproduction to the fourth and fifth decade of life call for a better understanding of reproductive aging. Demographic studies correlated late reproduction with general health and longevity. Telomeres, the protective ends of eukaryotic chromosomes, were implicated in various aging-associated pathologies and longevity. To examine whether telomeres are also associated with reproductive aging, we measured by Southern analysis the terminal restriction fragments (TRF) in leukocytes of women delivering a healthy infant following a spontaneous pregnancy at 43–48 years of age. We compared them to age-matched previously fertile women who failed to conceive above age 41. The average TRF length in the extended fertility group (9350 bp) was significantly longer than in the normal fertility group (8850 bp; p-value = 0.03). Strikingly, excluding women with nine or more children increased the difference between the groups to over 1000 bp (9920 and 8880 bp; p-value = 0.0009). Nevertheless, we observed no apparent effects of pregnancy, delivery, or parity on telomere length. We propose that longer leukocyte telomere length reflects higher oocyte quality, which can compensate for other limiting physiological and behavioral factors and enable successful reproduction. Leukocyte telomere length should be further explored as a novel biomarker of oocyte quality for assessing reproductive potential and integrating family planning with demanding women’s careers.

Ovarian aging: mechanisms and intervention strategies

“…Telomere length is known to directly correlated with both life expectancy and reproductive life span [ 77 ], [ 78 ], [ 79 ]. Comparison of telomere lengths in the leukocytes of women revealed that the average telomere length in the extended fertility group is significantly longer than in the normal fertility group [ 80 , 81 ]. Telomeres are shorter in the leukocytes of postmenopausal women than those of a similar age but still menstruating [ 82 ].…”

Comparative Application of Terminal Restriction Fragment Analysis Tools to Large-Scale Genomic Assays

“…In 2014, a new software named TeloTool (version 1.3.0.0) was developed, which fits the telomeric signal with a Gaussian function, making it particularly useful for samples with a unimodal distribution of the telomere-specific signal [20]. Over the years, TeloTool has been successfully used to examine the telomere length's association with reproductive aging [21] and to evaluate telomere elongation processes specific to the alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT) mechanism, which elongates telomeres in up to 15% of human cancers [22].…”

“…In 2014, a new so named TeloTool (version 1.3.0.0) was developed, which fits the telomeric signal Gaussian function, making it particularly useful for samples with a unimodal distr of the telomere-specific signal [20]. Over the years, TeloTool has been successfully u examine the telomere length's association with reproductive aging [21] and to ev telomere elongation processes specific to the alternative lengthening of telomeres mechanism, which elongates telomeres in up to 15% of human cancers [22]. [19,20,23] was obtained from the Google Scholar database (accessed on 29 August 2023), and each of the papers was manually verified for the use of the corresponding method in calculating telomere length from TRF blots.…”

A Randomized Controlled Intervention Trial with Danazol to Improve Telomeric and Fertility Parameters in Women with Diminished Ovarian Reserve: A Pilot Study

“…On one hand, women's ovarian reserve 15 , 16 and anti-müllerian hormone (AMH) levels, 15 a marker of ovarian reserve, decline steadily with age, increasing the risk of aging-associated diseases. 3 On the other hand, shorter TL in blood is associated with lower oocyte quality 17 and higher segregation errors 18 and aneuploidy rates. 19–21 …”