Milne Elizabeth, O'Callaghan Nathan, Ramankutty Padmaja, de Klerk Nicholas H, Greenop Kathryn R, Armstrong Bruce K, Miller Margaret, Fenech Michael
Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) Food, Nutrition and Bioproducts Flagship, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Nutrition. 2015 Feb;31(2):331-6. doi: 10.1016/j.nut.2014.08.005. Epub 2014 Sep 2.
Telomeres are long hexamer (TTAGGG) repeats at the ends of chromosomes, and contribute to maintenance of chromosomal stability. Telomere shortening has been linked to cancers and other chronic diseases in adults, although evidence for causal associations is limited. The aim of this study was to determine whether nutritional factors are associated with telomere length (TL) in children.
We conducted a cross-sectional study of nutritional factors and TL in 437 children between 2009 and 2011. Healthy children ages 3, 6, and 9 y provided blood samples, and their parents completed a food frequency questionnaire and a telephone interview about relevant environmental exposures. TL and blood micronutrient levels were measured, and genotyping at 10 loci was undertaken. Associations between the micronutrients and other variables were assessed using linear regression.
No significant main or interactive effects of age or sex were seen. After adjustment for age, sex, parental education, and month of blood collection, TL was inversely associated with plasma zinc, and shorter in children with the homozygous mutant genotype of the RFC G80A (rs1051266) polymorphism.
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first investigation of the association between telomere length and micronutrients in healthy children. The reason for the inverse relationship of TL with zinc is unknown but could be the result of an increase in telomere sequence deletions caused by labile zinc induction of oxidative stress. These findings should be corroborated in other studies before nutritional recommendations might be considered.
端粒是位于染色体末端的长六聚体（TTAGGG）重复序列，有助于维持染色体稳定性。端粒缩短与成人癌症及其他慢性疾病有关，尽管因果关联的证据有限。本研究旨在确定营养因素是否与儿童的端粒长度（TL）相关。
我们在2009年至2011年期间对437名儿童的营养因素和端粒长度进行了横断面研究。3岁、6岁和9岁的健康儿童提供血样，其父母完成食物频率问卷以及关于相关环境暴露的电话访谈。测量了端粒长度和血液中的微量营养素水平，并对10个位点进行了基因分型。使用线性回归评估微量营养素与其他变量之间的关联。
未观察到年龄或性别的显著主效应或交互效应。在调整年龄、性别、父母教育程度和采血月份后，端粒长度与血浆锌呈负相关，并且在具有RFC G80A（rs1051266）多态性纯合突变基因型的儿童中较短。
据我们所知，这是首次对健康儿童中端粒长度与微量营养素之间的关联进行调查。端粒长度与锌呈负相关的原因尚不清楚，但可能是由于不稳定的锌诱导氧化应激导致端粒序列缺失增加的结果。在考虑提出营养建议之前，这些发现应在其他研究中得到证实。
