Dataset Information

Maternal Psychological Resilience During Pregnancy and Newborn Telomere Length: A Prospective Study.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

In the context of the importance of elucidating the determinants of the initial, newborn setting of telomere length (TL), it is increasingly evident that maternal stress and stress-related processes during pregnancy play a major role. Although psychological resilience may function as a buffer, research in this area has not yet examined its potential role vis-à-vis that of stress. The authors examined the relationship between maternal psychological resilience during pregnancy and newborn TL.

Methods

In a sample of 656 mother-child dyads from the Prediction and Prevention of Preeclampsia and Intrauterine Growth Restriction cohort, multiple serial assessments were conducted over the course of pregnancy to quantify maternal stress, negative and positive emotional responses to pregnancy events, positive affect, and perceived social support. Principal component analysis identified two latent factors: stress and positivity. A measure of resilience was computed by regressing the positivity factor on the stress factor, in order to quantify positivity after accounting for stress. TL was measured using quantitative polymerase chain reaction in leukocytes extracted from cord blood shortly after birth. Linear regression was used to predict newborn TL from maternal resilience during pregnancy, adjusting for other potential determinants.

Results

Maternal stress significantly predicted shorter newborn TL (β=-0.079), and positivity significantly predicted longer TL (β=0.135). Maternal resilience (positivity accounting for stress) was significantly and positively associated with newborn TL (β=0.114, 95% CI=0.035, 0.189), with each standard deviation increase in resilience predicting 12% longer newborn TL.

Conclusions

The results indicate that maternal psychological resilience may exert a salubrious effect on offspring telomere biology and highlight the importance of enhancing maternal mental health and well-being during pregnancy.

SUBMITTER: Verner G

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7855094 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:IntroductionTelomere biology plays a fundamental role in maintaining the integrity of the genome and cell, and shortened telomeres have been linked to several age-related diseases. The initial (newborn) telomere length (TL) represents a critically important feature of the telomere biology system. Exposure to a variety of adverse prenatal conditions such as maternal stress, suboptimal diet, obesity, and obstetric complications, is associated with shorter offspring TL at birth and in adult life. Many, if not all, of these exposures are believed to have an inflammatory component. In this context, stress-related immunological processes during pregnancy may constitute a potential additional biological pathway because they can affect telomere length and telomerase activity via transcriptions factors such as cyclic adenosine monophosphate-dependent transcription factor (ATF7) and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB). Thus, in the present study we examined the hypothesis that maternal pro-inflammatory state across pregnancy, operationalized as the balance between tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, a major pro-inflammatory cytokine, and interleukin-10 (IL-10), the major anti-inflammatory cytokine, is associated with newborn leukocyte telomere length (LTL) at birth.Methods and materialsParticipants were healthy women (N = 112) recruited in early pregnancy. Concentrations of TNF- α and IL-10 were quantified in early, mid and late pregnancy from maternal blood samples. Telomere length was assessed in newborn blood samples soon after birth.ResultsAfter adjusting for maternal age, maternal pre-pregnancy BMI, birth weight percentile, and infant sex, a higher mean TNF-α/IL-10 ratio across pregnancy was significantly associated with shorter newborn TL (β = -.205, p = .030). Newborn TL was, on average, 10% shorter in offspring of women in the upper compared to lower quartile of the TNF-α/IL-10 ratio during pregnancy.DiscussionThese findings provide new evidence in humans for a potential "programming" mechanism linking maternal systemic pro-inflammatory processes during pregnancy with the initial (newborn) setting of her offspring's telomere system.

Project description:Newborn telomere length is a potential biomarker of the effects of maternal-fetal processes on offspring long-term health. A number of maternal psychosocial and environmental factors in pregnancy (e.g., stress, health, socioeconomic status) have been associated with shortened telomere length at birth. The physiological mechanisms responsible for potential effects of maternal factors on newborn telomere length have yet to be identified. Indirect evidence suggests that disruptions in maternal hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis functioning in pregnancy may be involved. Studies are needed that test whether maternal HPA axis functioning in pregnancy is associated with newborn telomere length. This study examined whether maternal HPA axis functioning across pregnancy, reflected in hair cortisol collected within one week after delivery, predicted newborn telomere length assessed from leukocyte cord blood collected at birth among 93 sociodemographically diverse mother-infant dyads. We further tested whether associations between maternal hair cortisol and newborn telomere length differed by infant sex, given documented sex differences in prenatal environmental exposure effects on offspring health, patterns of cortisol exposure during gestation, and telomere biology across the lifespan. In a multi-group structural equation modeling analysis that accounted for cortisol exposures across trimesters, maternal cortisol levels in pregnancy were not associated with newborn telomere length in the sample as a whole. However, significant sex differences emerged, with a significant positive association among females and a lack of a significant association among males. In addition, analyses revealed that cortisol levels were higher across trimesters among mothers of male infants than mothers of female infants. The results suggest that functioning of the maternal HPA axis in pregnancy may differ by fetal sex and have sex-specific effects on newborn telomere biology. These findings have implications for understanding the mechanisms by which maternal psychosocial and environmental exposures influence newborn telomere length and for elucidating mechanisms contributing to sex disparities in health.

Project description:There is growing interest in elucidating the determinants of newborn telomere length, given its potential as a biomarker of lifetime disease risk affected by prenatal exposures. There is limited evidence that increased maternal stress during pregnancy predicts shorter newborn telomere length. However, the few studies published to date have been conducted primarily with small samples utilizing inconsistent definitions of maternal stress. Moreover, the potential influence of fetal sex as a moderator of maternal stress effects on newborn telomere length has been largely ignored despite compelling evidence of likely impact. In a prospective cohort study of pregnant women seeking routine prenatal care, we tested whether a range of maternal measures of stressor exposures, subjective feelings of stress, and mental health (depression, anxiety) were associated with newborn telomere length assessed from cord blood among 146 pregnant women and their newborn infants. We further examined whether the pattern of associations differed by infant sex. Sociodemographic and maternal and newborn health indicators were considered as potential covariates. When examined within the whole sample, none of the maternal psychosocial measures were associated with newborn telomere length. Among potential covariates, maternal history of smoking and preeclampsia in a previous pregnancy were negatively associated with newborn telomere length. In adjusted linear regression analyses that considered potential sex-specific effects, maternal depression, general anxiety, and pregnancy-specific anxiety symptoms were positively associated with newborn telomere length among males. Overall, the findings provide some evidence for an association between maternal psychosocial wellbeing in pregnancy and newborn telomere length in males, although in the opposite direction than previously reported. Maternal smoking and obstetric history prior to conception may be associated with shorter offspring telomere length.

Project description:Little research has examined determinants of newborn telomere length, a potential biomarker of lifetime disease risk impacted by prenatal exposures. No study has examined whether maternal exposures in childhood influence newborn telomere length or whether there are sex differences in the maternal factors that influence newborn telomere length. We tested whether a range of maternal risk and protective factors in childhood and pregnancy were associated with newborn telomere length among 151 sociodemographically diverse mother-infant dyads. We further examined whether the pattern of associations differed by infant sex. Newborn telomere length was assessed from cord blood collected at birth. Risk/protective factors included maternal health (smoking, body mass index), socioeconomic status (education, income), stress exposures, and mental health (depressive and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms) in pregnancy as well as maternal experiences of abuse (physical, emotional, sexual) and familial emotional support in childhood. When examined within the whole sample, only maternal smoking in pregnancy and familial emotional support in childhood emerged as significant predictors of newborn telomere length. Male and female newborns differed in their pattern of associations between the predictors and telomere length. Among males, maternal smoking, higher body mass index, and elevated depressive symptoms in pregnancy and maternal sexual abuse in childhood were associated with shorter newborn telomere length; higher maternal educational attainment and household income in pregnancy and greater maternal familial emotional support in childhood were associated with longer newborn telomere length. Together, these factors accounted for 34% of the variance in male newborn telomere length. None of the risk/protective factors were associated with female newborn telomere length. The results suggest that male fetuses are particularly susceptible to maternal exposure effects on newborn telomere length. These findings have implications for elucidating mechanisms contributing to sex disparities in health.

Project description:OBJECTIVE:evaluation of telomere length change in acutely ill adult patients. DESIGN:Blood samples were drawn on the first and seventh day of intensive care unit (ICU) stay to assess telomere length using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based technique. Demographic data collected included age, weight, admission diagnosis, baseline laboratory values (pH, C- reactive protein (CRP), serum albumin level, white blood cell count (WBC) count, platelet count), and baseline SOFA and APACHE II scores. Additional data collected during the ICU stay included a repeated WBC count, the presence of positive blood cultures and outcome data, including death in the ICU or following discharge, whether ventilated or not at ICU discharge, and destination following discharge, i.e., medical ward or rehabilitation. SETTING:General ICU in tertiary hospital. PATIENTS:Forty patients admitted to the ICU within 72 h of hospital admission suffering from an acute illness were included in this prospective, observational study. MAIN RESULTS:Of the 40 patients studied, telomere shortening was noted in 21, telomere lengthening in 11, and no significant change in the other eight. The age of patients demonstrating telomere shortening was statistically significantly younger (45.4 vs. 61.5 years, p < 0.023) compared to those showing increased telomere length. In addition, a significant correlation was observed between the difference in telomere length and the corresponding difference in WBC count (telomere shortening was associated with a decreased WBC count and vice versa). A trend toward shortening was seen in patients with sepsis (p = 0.07). No significant correlations were found for any other demographic or outcome parameter and changes in telomere length. CONCLUSION:Changes in telomere length, both shortening and lengthening, were evident in the acute setting, but no associations between such changes with outcome were noted. Further studies in more homogeneous groups of patients appear to be warranted.