Telomere length is reduced in 9- to 16-year-old girls exposed to gestational diabetes in utero

TY - JOUR

T1 - Telomere length is reduced in 9- to 16-year-old girls exposed to gestational diabetes in utero

AU - Hjort, Line

AU - Vryer, Regan

AU - Grunnet, Louise G

AU - Burgner, David

AU - Olsen, Sjurdur F

AU - Saffery, Richard

AU - Vaag, Allan

PY - 2018/4/1

Y1 - 2018/4/1

N2 - AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Shortened telomere length is a marker of cell damage and is associated with oxidative stress, chronic inflammation and metabolic disease. We hypothesised that the offspring of women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) with increased risk of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases might exhibit shorter telomere length.METHODS: We investigated telomere length in 439 GDM and 469 control group offspring, aged between 9 and 16 years, recruited from the Danish National Birth Cohort. Relative telomere length was measured in peripheral blood DNA (n = 908) using a quantitative PCR approach. Multivariate regression analysis was used to investigate the association between mothers' GDM status and telomere length in the offspring.RESULTS: Female offspring had longer telomeres than males. Offspring of mothers with GDM had significantly shorter telomere length than control offspring, but this difference was observed only in girls. There was a negative association between telomere length and GDM exposure among the female offspring (14% shorter telomeres, p = 0.003) following adjustment for the age of the offspring. Telomere length in female offspring was negatively associated with fasting insulin levels and HOMA-IR (p = 0.03). Maternal age, smoking, gestational age, birthweight and the offspring's anthropometric characteristics were not associated with telomere length (p ≥ 0.1).CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: The 9- to 16-year-old girls of mothers with GDM had shorter telomeres than those from the control population. Further studies are needed to understand the extent to which shortened telomere length predicts and/or contributes to the increased risk of disease later in life among the offspring of women with GDM.

AB - AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Shortened telomere length is a marker of cell damage and is associated with oxidative stress, chronic inflammation and metabolic disease. We hypothesised that the offspring of women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) with increased risk of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases might exhibit shorter telomere length.METHODS: We investigated telomere length in 439 GDM and 469 control group offspring, aged between 9 and 16 years, recruited from the Danish National Birth Cohort. Relative telomere length was measured in peripheral blood DNA (n = 908) using a quantitative PCR approach. Multivariate regression analysis was used to investigate the association between mothers' GDM status and telomere length in the offspring.RESULTS: Female offspring had longer telomeres than males. Offspring of mothers with GDM had significantly shorter telomere length than control offspring, but this difference was observed only in girls. There was a negative association between telomere length and GDM exposure among the female offspring (14% shorter telomeres, p = 0.003) following adjustment for the age of the offspring. Telomere length in female offspring was negatively associated with fasting insulin levels and HOMA-IR (p = 0.03). Maternal age, smoking, gestational age, birthweight and the offspring's anthropometric characteristics were not associated with telomere length (p ≥ 0.1).CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: The 9- to 16-year-old girls of mothers with GDM had shorter telomeres than those from the control population. Further studies are needed to understand the extent to which shortened telomere length predicts and/or contributes to the increased risk of disease later in life among the offspring of women with GDM.

KW - Adolescent

KW - Adult

KW - Anthropometry

KW - Birth Weight

KW - Blood Glucose/metabolism

KW - Child

KW - Cohort Studies

KW - Denmark

KW - Diabetes, Gestational/physiopathology

KW - Female

KW - Gestational Age

KW - Humans

KW - Insulin/blood

KW - K562 Cells

KW - Male

KW - Multivariate Analysis

KW - Polymerase Chain Reaction

KW - Pregnancy

KW - Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects

KW - Sex Factors

KW - Telomere Shortening

U2 - 10.1007/s00125-018-4549-7

DO - 10.1007/s00125-018-4549-7

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 29362826

SN - 0012-186X

VL - 61

SP - 870

EP - 880

JO - Diabetologia

JF - Diabetologia

IS - 4

ER -