Centre for Environmental Sciences, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium.
Medical Research Council-Health Policy Agency, Centre for Environment and Health, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
JAMA Netw Open. 2020 May 1;3(5):e204057. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.4057.
Low socioeconomic status is associated with higher all-cause mortality and risks for aging-related diseases. Biological aging is a potential process underlying health conditions related to social disadvantages, which may be present from birth onward.
To evaluate the association of parental socioeconomic status with telomere length (TL) at birth, a marker of biological aging.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This prospective birth cohort study was conducted among 1504 mother-newborn pairs in Belgium recruited between February 1, 2010, and July 1, 2017.
Parental socioeconomic measures, including maternal educational level, occupation, paternal educational level, and neighborhood income based on median annual household income.
Mean relative TL was measured in cord blood and placental tissue. By constructing a principal component, an integrative socioeconomic measure was derived that integrates parental socioeconomic status and neighborhood income. Multivariable adjusted regression analyses were performed to associate the integrative socioeconomic measure and TL at birth.
In 1026 newborns (517 boys; mean [SD] gestational age, 39.2 [1.4] weeks), a higher socioeconomic status was associated with longer cord blood TL and placental TL. Each unit increment in the integrative socioeconomic status measure was associated with 2.1% (95% CI, 0.9%-3.4%; P < .001) longer cord blood TL in boys, while no association was observed for girls (0.5% longer cord blood TL; 95% CI, -0.9% to 1.8%; P = .50). The sex-specific socioeconomic status interaction revealed a stronger association in boys compared with newborn girls (1.6%; 95% CI, 0.02%-3.3%; P = .047 for interaction). In placental tissue, higher socioeconomic status was associated with 1.8% (95% CI, 0.3%-3.3%; P = .02) longer TL in newborn boys but not in girls (0.4% longer TL; 95% CI, -1.2% to 2.0%; P = .63). For placental tissue, no sex and socioeconomic status interaction on TL was observed (1.4%; 95% CI, -0.5% to 3.4%; P = .16 for interaction).
This study suggests that parental socioeconomic status is associated with newborn TL, especially in boys. The results indicate that familial social economic factors are associated with the potential cellular longevity of the next generation, with a potential higher transgenerational vulnerability for newborn boys.
低社会经济地位与全因死亡率和与衰老相关疾病的风险增加有关。生物学衰老可能是与社会劣势相关的健康状况的潜在过程，这种劣势可能从出生就存在。
评估父母的社会经济地位与端粒长度（TL）之间的关系，TL 是生物衰老的一个标志物。
设计、地点和参与者：这是一项前瞻性出生队列研究，共纳入了 1504 对 2010 年 2 月 1 日至 2017 年 7 月 1 日期间在比利时招募的母婴对。
包括母亲的教育程度、职业、父亲的教育程度和基于中位数家庭年收入的邻里收入在内的父母社会经济措施。
在脐带血和胎盘组织中测量平均相对 TL。通过构建主成分，得出一个综合的社会经济衡量标准，该衡量标准综合了父母的社会经济地位和邻里收入。采用多变量调整回归分析来关联综合社会经济衡量标准和出生时的 TL。
在 1026 名新生儿（517 名男孩；平均[SD]胎龄，39.2[1.4]周）中，较高的社会经济地位与脐带血 TL 和胎盘 TL 较长有关。综合社会经济地位衡量标准每增加一个单位，与男孩的脐带血 TL 增加 2.1%（95%CI，0.9%-3.4%；P<0.001）相关，而与女孩的脐带血 TL 无相关性（增加 0.5%；95%CI，-0.9%至 1.8%；P=0.50）。性别特异性社会经济地位交互作用显示，男孩的关联比新生女孩更强（1.6%；95%CI，0.02%-3.3%；P=0.047）。在胎盘组织中，较高的社会经济地位与男孩的 TL 延长 1.8%（95%CI，0.3%-3.3%；P=0.02）相关，但与女孩无关（TL 延长 0.4%；95%CI，-1.2%至 2.0%；P=0.63）。对于胎盘组织，TL 未观察到性别和社会经济地位的交互作用（1.4%；95%CI，-0.5%至 3.4%；P=0.16）。
本研究表明，父母的社会经济地位与新生儿的 TL 相关，尤其是男孩。结果表明，家庭社会经济因素与下一代潜在的细胞长寿有关，新生儿男孩可能面临更高的跨代脆弱性。
