Provenzi Livio, Scotto di Minico Giunia, Giorda Roberto, Montirosso Rosario
0-3 Center for the At-Risk Infant, Scientific Institute IRCCS Eugenio Medea, Lecco, Italy.
Molecular Biology Laboratory, Scientific Institute, IRCCS Eugenio Medea, Lecco, Italy.
Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2017 Oct 31;8:295. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2017.00295. eCollection 2017.
Preterm infants present an immature neurobehavioral profile at birth, even in absence of severe brain injuries and perinatal complications. As such, they require a long-lasting hospitalization in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), which is thought to grant at-risk newborns' survival, but still entails a number of physical, painful, and socio-emotional stressors. Hence, preterm birth and NICU stay represent an early adverse experience, which has been linked to detrimental consequences for neurological, neuro-endocrinal, behavioral, and socio-emotional development, as well as to disease later in life. Recent advances in the behavioral epigenetic field are helping us to unveil the potential mechanisms through which early NICU-related stress may lead to negative developmental outcomes. From this perspective, telomere regulation might be a key programming mechanism. Telomeres are the terminal portion of chromosomes and are known to get shorter with age. Moreover, telomere length (TL) is affected by the exposure to stress during early development. As such, TL might be an innovative biomarker of early adverse exposures in young infants and children. Unfortunately, there is paucity of studies investigating TL in populations of preterm infants and its association with known NICU-related stressors remains unexplored. In the present paper, the potential relevance of TL for research and clinical work with preterm infants will be underlined in the light of recent contributions linking progressive telomere shortening and early exposure to adverse experiences and stressful environments in humans. Finally, insights will be provided to guide clinically relevant translational research on TL in the field of VPT birth and NICU stay.
早产儿出生时即呈现出不成熟的神经行为特征，即使没有严重脑损伤和围产期并发症也是如此。因此，他们需要在新生儿重症监护病房（NICU）长期住院，这被认为能确保高危新生儿存活，但仍会带来一些身体上的、痛苦的以及社会情感方面的应激源。所以，早产和NICU住院代表了一种早期不良经历，这与神经、神经内分泌、行为和社会情感发育的有害后果以及日后的疾病有关。行为表观遗传学领域的最新进展有助于我们揭示早期与NICU相关的应激可能导致负面发育结果的潜在机制。从这个角度来看，端粒调控可能是一种关键的编程机制。端粒是染色体的末端部分，已知会随着年龄增长而变短。此外，端粒长度（TL）会受到早期发育过程中应激暴露的影响。因此，TL可能是婴幼儿早期不良暴露的一种创新性生物标志物。不幸的是，针对早产儿群体中TL的研究很少，其与已知的NICU相关应激源的关联仍未得到探索。在本文中，鉴于最近将端粒逐渐缩短与人类早期不良经历和应激环境暴露联系起来的研究成果，将强调TL在早产儿研究和临床工作中的潜在相关性。最后，将提供一些见解，以指导在极早早产儿出生和NICU住院领域开展与TL相关的临床转化研究。
