Li Zongchang, Tang Jinsong, Li Hong, Chen Shan, He Ying, Liao Yanhui, Wei Zhen, Wan Guobin, Xiang Xi, Xia Kun, Chen Xiaogang
1] Institute of Mental Health, the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China [2] Institute of Genomic Medicine, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Institute of Mental Health, the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
Sci Rep. 2014 Nov 17;4:7073. doi: 10.1038/srep07073.
Telomeres are protective chromosomal structures that play a key role in preserving genomic stability. Epidemiologic studies have shown that the abnormal telomere length in leukocytes is associated with some mental disorders and age-related diseases. However, the association between leukocyte telomere length and autism has not been investigated. Here we investigated the possible association between relative telomere length (RTL) in peripheral blood leukocytes and childhood autism by using an established real-time polymerase chain reaction method. We observed significantly shorter RTL in patients with childhood autism than in controls (p = 0.006). Individuals with shorter RTL had a significantly increased presence of childhood autism compared with those who had long RTL. In patients, we found that family training interventions have a significant effect on telomere length (P = 0.012), but no correlations between RTL and clinical features (paternal age, maternal age, age of onset, illness of duration, CARS score and ABC score) were observed in this study. These results provided the first evidence that shorter leukocytes telomere length is significantly associated with childhood autism. The molecular mechanism underlying telomere length may be implicated in the development of autism.
端粒是保护性染色体结构，在维持基因组稳定性方面发挥关键作用。流行病学研究表明，白细胞中端粒长度异常与一些精神障碍和年龄相关疾病有关。然而，白细胞端粒长度与自闭症之间的关联尚未得到研究。在此，我们使用成熟的实时聚合酶链反应方法，研究外周血白细胞相对端粒长度（RTL）与儿童自闭症之间的可能关联。我们观察到，儿童自闭症患者的RTL显著短于对照组（p = 0.006）。与RTL长的个体相比，RTL短的个体患儿童自闭症的几率显著增加。在患者中，我们发现家庭训练干预对端粒长度有显著影响（P = 0.012），但在本研究中未观察到RTL与临床特征（父亲年龄、母亲年龄、发病年龄、病程、儿童孤独症评定量表（CARS）评分和孤独症行为量表（ABC）评分）之间存在相关性。这些结果首次证明，白细胞端粒长度缩短与儿童自闭症显著相关。端粒长度的分子机制可能与自闭症的发生有关。
