Department of Human Development and Family Science, University of Georgia, Athens, GA.
Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ.
J Pediatr. 2020 Jul;222:193-199.e5. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2020.02.075.
To test the association between early puberty and telomere length in preadolescent girls and mothers from a large representative sample of US females.
We analyzed data from 1194 preadolescent girls and 2421 mothers from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. Participants were from a population-based birth cohort (1998-2000) born in large US cities. Telomere length was assessed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction from saliva samples provided by preadolescent girls and mothers of preadolescent youth. Mothers completed a questionnaire about their child's pubertal development to determine concurrent Tanner stages and provided self-reports of her own age at menarche. Linear regression models were used to estimate the association between pubertal development (status and timing) and telomere length.
Early pubertal timing but not pubertal status was associated with shorter telomere length in preadolescent girls (P < .01). Early age at menarche was associated with shorter telomere length in a sample of mothers of preadolescent youth (P < .05).
Results provide evidence for the association between early puberty and shorter telomeres evidenced by associations in both preadolescent girls and mothers. Future research should address the limitations of this study by using longitudinal measurements of pubertal development assessed through medical examinations and repeated assessments of telomere length to capture telomere attrition.
在一个来自美国女性的大型代表性样本中，检验青春期提前与青春期前女孩和母亲端粒长度之间的关联。
我们分析了来自脆弱家庭和儿童福利研究的 1194 名青春期前女孩和 2421 名母亲的数据。参与者来自基于人群的出生队列（1998-2000 年），出生于美国大城市。通过青春期前女孩和青春期前青少年的母亲提供的唾液样本，使用定量聚合酶链反应来评估端粒长度。母亲完成了一份关于孩子青春期发育的问卷，以确定同期的坦纳阶段，并报告她自己的初潮年龄。线性回归模型用于估计青春期发育（状态和时间）与端粒长度之间的关联。
青春期提前的时间而不是青春期的状态与青春期前女孩的端粒长度较短有关（P <.01）。初潮年龄较早与青春期前青少年母亲的端粒长度较短有关（P <.05）。
结果提供了青春期提前与端粒较短之间关联的证据，这在青春期前女孩和母亲的样本中都有体现。未来的研究应通过使用医学检查评估的青春期发育的纵向测量和重复评估端粒长度来捕获端粒损耗，以解决本研究的局限性。
