Department of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Hangkong Road 13, 430030 Wuhan, Hubei, China; Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health (Incubation), School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
Wuhan Children's Hospital (Wuhan Maternal and Child Healthcare Hospital), Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
Ecotoxicol Environ Saf. 2021 Apr 15;213:112037. doi: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2021.112037. Epub 2021 Feb 18.
Telomere length (TL) is a biomarker for biological aging, and the initial setting of TL at birth is a determinant factor of TL in later life. Newborn TL is sensitive to maternal metals concentrations, while study about the association between maternal manganese (Mn) concentrations and newborn TL was not found. Our study aimed to investigate whether newborn TL is related to maternal Mn concentrations.
Data were collected from a birth cohort study of 762 mother-newborn pairs conducted from November 2013 to March 2015 in Wuhan, China. We measured the Mn concentrations in spot urine samples collected during three trimesters by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and relative cord blood TL by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). We applied multiple informant models to investigate the associations between maternal Mn concentrations and cord blood TL.
The geometric mean of creatinine-corrected urinary Mn concentrations were 1.58 μg/g creatinine, 2.53 μg/g creatinine, and 2.62 μg/g creatinine in the first, second, and third trimester, respectively. After adjusting for potential confounders, a doubling of maternal urinary Mn concentration during the second trimester was related to a 2.10% (95% CI: 0.25%, 3.99%) increase in cord blood TL. Mothers with the highest tertile of urinary Mn concentrations during the second trimester had a 9.67% (95% CI: 2.13%, 17.78%) longer cord blood TL than those with the lowest tertile. This association was more evident in male infants. No relationship was found between maternal urinary Mn concentrations and cord blood TL during the first and third trimesters in our study.
Our findings suggested that maternal Mn concentration during the second trimester was positively associated with newborn TL. These results might provide an epidemiology evidence on the protective role of maternal Mn for newborn TL and offer clues for the early prevention of telomere shortening related diseases.
端粒长度（TL）是生物衰老的生物标志物，出生时 TL 的初始设定是后期 TL 的决定因素。新生儿 TL 对母体金属浓度敏感，而关于母体锰（Mn）浓度与新生儿 TL 之间关系的研究尚未发现。本研究旨在探讨新生儿 TL 是否与母体 Mn 浓度有关。
数据来自 2013 年 11 月至 2015 年 3 月在中国武汉进行的一项 762 对母婴队列研究。我们通过电感耦合等离子体质谱法（ICP-MS）测量了妊娠中期、晚期和晚期采集的点尿样中 Mn 浓度，并通过实时定量聚合酶链反应（qPCR）测量了相对脐血 TL。我们应用多信息模型来研究母体 Mn 浓度与脐血 TL 之间的关系。
校正肌酐后的尿 Mn 浓度的几何平均值分别为妊娠中期、晚期和晚期的 1.58μg/g 肌酐、2.53μg/g 肌酐和 2.62μg/g 肌酐。在调整了潜在的混杂因素后，妊娠中期母体尿 Mn 浓度加倍与脐血 TL 增加 2.10%（95%CI：0.25%，3.99%）相关。妊娠中期尿 Mn 浓度最高三分位的母亲与最低三分位的母亲相比，脐血 TL 长 9.67%（95%CI：2.13%，17.78%）。这种关联在男性婴儿中更为明显。在本研究中，未发现母体尿 Mn 浓度与脐血 TL 之间存在第一和第三孕期的关系。
我们的研究结果表明，妊娠中期母体 Mn 浓度与新生儿 TL 呈正相关。这些结果可能为母体 Mn 对新生儿 TL 的保护作用提供了流行病学证据，并为早期预防与端粒缩短相关的疾病提供了线索。
