Telomere length in early childhood is associated with sex and ethnicity

Abstract Telomeres are repetitive DNA sequences at the end of chromosomes that function to protect chromosomes from degradation. Throughout the life course, telomere length decreases with age and is influenced by environmental factors and health conditions. This study aimed to determine the relative...

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Autores principales:	Kien Ly, Caroline Walker, Sarah Berry, Russell Snell, Emma Marks, Zaneta Thayer, Polly Atatoa-Carr, Susan Morton
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2019
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/9a77ebf93eab4f2a91e0ba675879531d
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:9a77ebf93eab4f2a91e0ba675879531d2021-12-02T15:08:46ZTelomere length in early childhood is associated with sex and ethnicity10.1038/s41598-019-46338-x2045-2322https://doaj.org/article/9a77ebf93eab4f2a91e0ba675879531d2019-07-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-46338-xhttps://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Telomeres are repetitive DNA sequences at the end of chromosomes that function to protect chromosomes from degradation. Throughout the life course, telomere length decreases with age and is influenced by environmental factors and health conditions. This study aimed to determine the relative telomere lengths in a diverse cohort of about 4000 four-year-old children in New Zealand. Linear regression was used to investigate the relationship between telomere length, child gender, ethnicity, paternal age and deprivation. We observed substantial variation in telomere length according to sex and self-identified ethnicity. Telomere length was longer in females compared to males (coefficient of 0.042, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.024–0.060). European children had shorter telomere than both the indigenous Māori (coefficient of 0.03, CI 0.007–0.055) and Pacific children (coefficient of 0.15, CI 0.12–0.18). The data suggest that telomere lengths are highly variable and variability between individuals arise from early age, influenced partly by sex and ethnicity. Longer telomeres in indigenous Māori and Pacific children may reflect the heritability of telomere length in genetically less complex populations. This study increases our understanding of telomere dynamics in young children since the majority of telomere studies are conducted in adults.Kien LyCaroline WalkerSarah BerryRussell SnellEmma MarksZaneta ThayerPolly Atatoa-CarrSusan MortonNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 9, Iss 1, Pp 1-7 (2019)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Kien Ly Caroline Walker Sarah Berry Russell Snell Emma Marks Zaneta Thayer Polly Atatoa-Carr Susan Morton Telomere length in early childhood is associated with sex and ethnicity
description	Abstract Telomeres are repetitive DNA sequences at the end of chromosomes that function to protect chromosomes from degradation. Throughout the life course, telomere length decreases with age and is influenced by environmental factors and health conditions. This study aimed to determine the relative telomere lengths in a diverse cohort of about 4000 four-year-old children in New Zealand. Linear regression was used to investigate the relationship between telomere length, child gender, ethnicity, paternal age and deprivation. We observed substantial variation in telomere length according to sex and self-identified ethnicity. Telomere length was longer in females compared to males (coefficient of 0.042, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.024–0.060). European children had shorter telomere than both the indigenous Māori (coefficient of 0.03, CI 0.007–0.055) and Pacific children (coefficient of 0.15, CI 0.12–0.18). The data suggest that telomere lengths are highly variable and variability between individuals arise from early age, influenced partly by sex and ethnicity. Longer telomeres in indigenous Māori and Pacific children may reflect the heritability of telomere length in genetically less complex populations. This study increases our understanding of telomere dynamics in young children since the majority of telomere studies are conducted in adults.
format	article
author	Kien Ly Caroline Walker Sarah Berry Russell Snell Emma Marks Zaneta Thayer Polly Atatoa-Carr Susan Morton
author_facet	Kien Ly Caroline Walker Sarah Berry Russell Snell Emma Marks Zaneta Thayer Polly Atatoa-Carr Susan Morton
author_sort	Kien Ly
title	Telomere length in early childhood is associated with sex and ethnicity
title_short	Telomere length in early childhood is associated with sex and ethnicity
title_full	Telomere length in early childhood is associated with sex and ethnicity
title_fullStr	Telomere length in early childhood is associated with sex and ethnicity
title_full_unstemmed	Telomere length in early childhood is associated with sex and ethnicity
title_sort	telomere length in early childhood is associated with sex and ethnicity
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2019
url	https://doaj.org/article/9a77ebf93eab4f2a91e0ba675879531d
work_keys_str_mv	AT kienly telomerelengthinearlychildhoodisassociatedwithsexandethnicity AT carolinewalker telomerelengthinearlychildhoodisassociatedwithsexandethnicity AT sarahberry telomerelengthinearlychildhoodisassociatedwithsexandethnicity AT russellsnell telomerelengthinearlychildhoodisassociatedwithsexandethnicity AT emmamarks telomerelengthinearlychildhoodisassociatedwithsexandethnicity AT zanetathayer telomerelengthinearlychildhoodisassociatedwithsexandethnicity AT pollyatatoacarr telomerelengthinearlychildhoodisassociatedwithsexandethnicity AT susanmorton telomerelengthinearlychildhoodisassociatedwithsexandethnicity
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Telomere length in early childhood is associated with sex and ethnicity

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