Effects of size at birth, childhood growth patterns and growth hormone treatment on leukocyte telomere length

Small size at birth and rapid growth in early life are associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease in later life. Short children born small for gestational age (SGA) are treated with growth hormone (GH), inducing catch-up in length. Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) is a marker of biologi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2017-02, Vol.12 (2), p.e0171825
Main Authors: Smeets, Carolina C J, Codd, Veryan, Denniff, Matthew, Samani, Nilesh J, Hokken-Koelega, Anita C S
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Adults
Age
Biology and Life Sciences
Biomarkers
Biomedical research
Birth Weight
Body fat
Body Size
Body weight gain
Cardiovascular disease
Cardiovascular diseases
Cell division
Child development
Children
Copper
Deoxyribonucleic acid
DNA
Endocrinology
Female
Genetic aspects
Gestational age
Growth disorders
Growth hormone
Growth hormones
Growth patterns
Health aspects
Health risks
Hospitals
Human Development
Human Growth Hormone - pharmacology
Humans
Leukocytes
Leukocytes - drug effects
Leukocytes - metabolism
Male
Medicine and Health Sciences
Metabolic syndrome
Obesity
Pediatrics
People and Places
Properties
Small-for-gestational age
Smoking
Social Sciences
Somatotropin
Systematic review
Telomerase
Telomere
Telomere Homeostasis - drug effects
Telomeres
Young Adult
Young adults
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Summary:Small size at birth and rapid growth in early life are associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease in later life. Short children born small for gestational age (SGA) are treated with growth hormone (GH), inducing catch-up in length. Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) is a marker of biological age and shorter LTL is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease. To investigate whether LTL is influenced by birth size, childhood growth and long-term GH treatment. We analyzed LTL in 545 young adults with differences in birth size and childhood growth patterns. Previously GH-treated young adults born SGA (SGA-GH) were compared to untreated short SGA (SGA-S), SGA with spontaneous catch-up to a normal body size (SGA-CU), and appropriate for gestational age with a normal body size (AGA-NS). LTL was measured using a quantitative PCR assay. We found a positive association between birth length and LTL (p = 0.04), and a trend towards a positive association between birth weight and LTL (p = 0.08), after adjustments for gender, age, gestational age and adult body size. Weight gain during infancy and childhood and fat mass percentage were not associated with LTL. Female gender and gestational age were positively associated with LTL, and smoking negatively. After adjustments for gender, age and gestational age, SGA-GH had a similar LTL as SGA-S (p = 0.11), SGA-CU (p = 0.80), and AGA-NS (p = 0.30). Larger size at birth is positively associated with LTL in young adulthood. Growth patterns during infancy and childhood are not associated with LTL. Previously GH-treated young adults born SGA have similar LTL as untreated short SGA, SGA with spontaneous catch-up and AGA born controls, indicating no adverse effects of GH-induced catch-up in height on LTL.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0171825