Telomere length and reproductive aging

Abstract

BACKGROUNDRate of reproductive aging may be related to rate of biological aging. Thus, indicators of aging, such as short telomere length, may be more frequent in women with a history suggestive of premature reproductive senescence.METHODSTelomere-specific quantitative PCR was used to assess telomere length in two groups of women with evidence of reproductive aging: (i) patients with idiopathic premature ovarian failure (POF, N = 34) and (ii) women with a history of recurrent miscarriage (RM, N = 95); and two control groups: (1) women from the general population (C1, N = 108) and (2) women who had a healthy pregnancy after 37 years of age (C2, N = 46).RESULTSThe RM group had shorter age-adjusted mean telomere length than controls (8.46 versus 8.92 kb in C1 and 9.11 kb in C2, P = 0.0004 and P = 0.02 for C1 and C2, respectively), although short telomeres were not confined to subsets of this group known to have experienced single or multiple trisomic pregnancies. Although sample size is limited, mean telomere length in the POF group was significantly longer than that in C1 (9.58 versus 8.92 kb, P = 0.01).CONCLUSIONSWomen experiencing RM may have shorter telomeres as a consequence of a more rapid rate of aging, or as a reflection of an increased level of cellular stress. Longer telomere length in the POF group may be explained by abnormal hormone exposure, slow cell division rates or autoimmunity in these women. Despite small sample sizes, these results suggest that different manifestations of reproductive aging are likely influenced by distinct physiological factors.

Telomeres and Reproductive Aging

“…For this reason, these women had less ovarian follicles, aged ovaries and also long leukocyte telomeres. Increased telomere length in premature ovarian failure (POF) reported in the study of Hanna et al, similar to the study conducted by Dorland et al, was explained by longer telomeres in blood, reflecting fewer mitotic divisions in the initial germ cell pool, which could also explain a smaller follicular pool and early menopause in POF patients (Hanna et al, 2009). …”

Telomerase activity is more significant for predicting the outcome of IVF treatment than telomere length in granulosa cells

“…Interestingly, some studies have revealed that patients with recurrent spontaneous abortions had shorter TLs. However, other studies reported that the TLs of premature ovarian failure patients were longer that those of the control group (Hanna et al 2009). Additional studies reported that infertile women undergoing COH treatment had significantly longer telomeres than healthy women of a similar age (Dorland et al 1998).…”

Leukocyte telomere length and age at menopause

“…18 And 95 women with a history of recurrent miscarriage had shorter average telomere length than 108 women from the general population. 22 Yet these epidemiologic investigations have also not been entirely consistent, since longer average leukocyte telomere length was observed in women experiencing premature ovarian failure compared with women from the general population, 22 and poorly responding IVF patients older than 34 years with unexplained fertility disorder had longer lymphocyte telomere length compared with similarly aged fertile women. 21 Previous authors have explained the seeming inconsistencies in findings by attributing greater relative importance to one of the multiple factors that affect the reproductive lifespan by influencing the number of primordial follicles: the number of primordial germ cells, their mitotic ability, and the activity of telomerase.…”

“…21 Previous authors have explained the seeming inconsistencies in findings by attributing greater relative importance to one of the multiple factors that affect the reproductive lifespan by influencing the number of primordial follicles: the number of primordial germ cells, their mitotic ability, and the activity of telomerase. 22 For example, it has been postulated that women with an unexplained fertility disorder may have a longer cell cycle, leading to fewer cell divisions and therefore fewer reductions in telomere length and a smaller pool of follicles. 21 We do not dispute the plausibility of such scenarios, in which the relationship between telomere length and menopausal age would depend on a woman's fertility status and reason for infertility.…”

“…Some studies have demonstrated an association between shorter leukocyte telomere length and earlier reproductive aging, including shorter reproductive lifespan and occult ovarian insufficiency [15][16][17] or poorer IVF outcomes, 18,19 while other studies have yielded negative or conflicting results. [20][21][22] We therefore sought to investigate the relationship between leukocyte telomere length and reproductive aging, as expressed by age at menopause in a cohort of women age 65 years and older.…”