Abstract
Background
Newborn telomere length is considered as an effective predictor of lifespan and health outcomes in later life. Selenium is an essential trace element for human health, and its antioxidation is of great significance for the prevention of telomere erosion.
Methods
We recruited 746 mother–newborn pairs in Wuhan Children’s Hospital between 2013 and 2015. Urine samples were repeatedly collected at three time points during pregnancy, and umbilical cord blood samples were collected right after parturition. Urinary selenium concentration was detected using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and newborn telomere length was measured using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. We applied general estimating equations to examine the trimester-specific association between maternal urinary selenium during pregnancy and newborn telomere length.
Results
The median of creatinine-corrected selenium concentrations during pregnancy were 16.29, 18.08, and 18.35 μg/g·creatinine in the first, second, and third trimesters, respectively. Selenium concentrations in all the three trimesters were significantly associated with newborn telomere length. Per doubling of maternal urinary selenium concentrations was associated with 6.44% (95% CI: 0.92, 12.25), 6.54% (95% CI: 0.17, 13.31), and 6.02% (95% CI: 0.29, 12.09) longer newborn telomere length in the first, second, and third trimesters, respectively, after adjusting for potential confounders.
Conclusions
This is the first study to provide evidence for the effect of maternal selenium levels on fetal telomere erosion. Findings from our study suggested that maternal urinary selenium was positively associated with newborn telomere length, indicating that intrauterine selenium exposure might have effect on initial setting of human telomere length.
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Funding
This study was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (grant number: 2017YFC0212003); National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers: 91643207, 81273083); and the Hubei Province Health & Family Planning Scientific Research Project (grant number: WJ2017Z001).
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YW, SX, Y Tian, Y Li, WX, AZ, and BZ designed research and reviewed the manuscript. ZC and SY assisted in the study design and the implementation of the study. LS, BL, LZ, MW, Y Liu, and JB conducted research and critically reviewed the manuscript for important intellectual content. LW performed statistical analysis and drafted the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
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Wang, L., Song, L., Liu, B. et al. Association between maternal urinary selenium during pregnancy and newborn telomere length: results from a birth cohort study. Eur J Clin Nutr 76, 716–721 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-021-01004-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-021-01004-2
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