Telomere Length and Pediatric Obesity: A Review

Azcona, Cristina

doi:10.3390/genes12060946

Cited by 11 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 44 publications

(97 reference statements)

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“…This increase of spermatozoa telomere length leads to an increase of telomere length in embryos as well as inborn children. This parameter can confer a real advantage in terms of protection against some diseases like obesity 107,108 . Furthermore, the telomere length in children's chromosomes is strongly associated with the sperm telomere length 6 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of paternal age on assisted reproductive technology outcomes and offspring health: a systematic review

et al. 2023

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Background The increase in paternal age and the percentage of births after assisted reproductive technologies (ART) may have consequences on offspring and society's position regarding access to ART must be questioned. Most countries recommend limiting ART to men under 60 years. What is the rationale for this threshold? Objective This systematic review assesses scientific arguments to establish links between paternal age, male fertility, and offspring health. Material and methods Using the PRISMA guidelines, this systematic review of the literature analyzed 111 articles selected after screening PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Web of Science for articles published between January 1, 1995 and December 31, 2021. Results A strong correlation was highlighted between advanced paternal age and a decrease of some sperm parameters (semen volume and sperm motility) and infant morbidity (exponentially increased incidence of achondroplasia and Apert syndrome, and more moderately increased incidence of autism and schizophrenia). The impact of paternal age on pregnancy and fetal aneuploidy rates is more controversial. No association was found with spontaneous abortion rates. Discussion and conclusion The scientific parameters should be explained to older parents undergoing ART. And for countries that discuss a limit on paternal age for access to ART, the debate requires consideration of social and ethical arguments.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of paternal age on assisted reproductive technology outcomes and offspring health: a systematic review

et al. 2023

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“…These findings have led several authors to the conclusion that factors involved in or associated with these metabolic disorders, such as diet, lack of physical activities, chronic inflammation, and high oxidative stress, are responsible for accelerated telomere attrition [ 26 , 27 ]. Thus, according to this concept, short telomeres could theoretically be used as a biomarker to detect the cellular impact of metabolic disorders or even predict the response to obesity treatment [ 28 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These results observed in children with obesity and metabolic disorders indicate that the aforementioned links already exist during the very first years of life. A few other studies have observed links between short telomeres and obesity [ 12 , 28 , 37 ] as well as increased glucose levels in children [ 38 ]. A study also showed the link between early obesity (at age 6 months) and short telomeres measured 3 to 5 years later [ 39 ], although telomere length was not measured at the age of 6 months when obesity was observed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Longitudinal Association of Telomere Dynamics with Obesity and Metabolic Disorders in Young Children

et al. 2022

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In adults, short leukocyte telomere length (LTL) is associated with metabolic disorders, such as obesity and diabetes mellitus type 2. These associations could stem from early life interactions between LTL and metabolic disorders. To test this hypothesis, we explored the associations between LTL and metabolic parameters as well as their evolution over time in children with or without obesity at baseline. Seventy-three (n = 73) children attending our Outpatient Clinic for the Prevention and Management of Overweight and Obesity in Childhood and Adolescence, aged 2–10 years (mean ± SD: 7.6 ± 2.0 years), were followed for 2 to 4 years. Anthropometric, clinical, and biological (including LTL by Southern blot) measurements were performed annually. Baseline LTL correlated negatively with BMI (p = 0.02), fat percentage (p = 0.01), and blood glucose (p = 0.0007). These associations persisted after adjustments for age and sex. No associations were found between LTL attrition during the follow-up period and any of the metabolic parameters. In young children, obesity and metabolic disturbances were associated with shorter telomeres but were not associated with more pronounced LTL attrition. These results suggest that short telomeres contribute to the development of obesity and metabolic disorders very early in life, which can have a major impact on health.

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“…Thus, the telomere has been referred to as a “mitotic clock” [ 12 ] and telomere length has been construed as a measure of “biological age” [ 13 ]. Consistent with these considerations, peripherally measured TL has been shown to be associated with a wide range of disease and health morbidities in adults [ 14 – 28 ] and children [ 29 – 38 ] and has become a popular biomarker for stress and accelerated biological aging [ 10 , 35 , 39 – 45 ]. Thus, TL at birth and the course of TL shortening in blood or saliva may provide insight into associated between premature birth and future health trajectory.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Characteristics of salivary telomere length shortening in preterm infants

et al. 2023

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Objective To examine the association between gestational age, telomere length (TL) and rate of shortening in newborns. Study design Genomic DNA was isolated from buccal samples of 39 term infants at birth and one year and 32 preterm infants at birth, term-adjusted age (40 weeks post-conception) and age one-year corrected for gestational duration. Telomere length was measured by quantitative real-time PCR. Demographic and clinical data were collected during clinic or research visits and from hospital records. Socioeconomic status was estimated using the deprivation category (DEPCAT) scores derived from the Carstairs score of the subject’s postal code. Results At birth, preterm infants had longer telomeres than infants born at term. However, there was no difference in telomere length between preterm infants and term infants at one year of age, implying that the rate of telomere shortening was greater in pre-term than term infants. Interestingly, TL at age 40 weeks post-conception in preterm infants was significantly longer than term infant TL at birth, suggesting that time since conception is not the only factor that affects rate of shortening. Several factors, including sex, fetal growth restriction, maternal age, maternal booking body mass index (BMI), mother education level and DEPCAT score, also differed between the preterm and term groups. Conclusions Preterm infants have longer telomeres than term infants at birth. In the studied cohort, the rate of telomere shortening was greater in the premature group compared with the term infants. This finding agrees with previous studies using cord blood, suggesting that the longer TL in premature infants detected at birth do not persist and demonstrating that use of saliva DNA is acceptable for studies of telomere dynamics in infants. However, that the TL at age 40 weeks post-conception in preterm is longer than term infants at birth suggests that biological factors other than time since conception also affect rate of shortening.

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Telomere Length and Pediatric Obesity: A Review

Cited by 11 publications

References 44 publications

Impact of paternal age on assisted reproductive technology outcomes and offspring health: a systematic review

Impact of paternal age on assisted reproductive technology outcomes and offspring health: a systematic review

Longitudinal Association of Telomere Dynamics with Obesity and Metabolic Disorders in Young Children

Characteristics of salivary telomere length shortening in preterm infants

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