Telomere length, pre-eclampsia, and gestational diabetes.
BACKGROUND
Telomere length is a marker of cumulative damage to the cell, and has been associated with cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and diabetes.


RESULTS
The association of telomere length with pre-eclampsia and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) was examined in a nested case-control study. Circulating leukocyte telomere length was measured by Quantitative-PCR. Mean and median telomere length among cases and controls was compared, and logistic regression was used to model the outcomes as a function of tertile telomere length, with control for effects of potential confounders. Mean telomere length in pre-eclampsia cases was 0.77 (SD 0.14), in GDM cases was 0.73 (SD 0.10), and in controls was 0.74 (SD 0.14). The adjusted odds ratio comparing the highest tertile to the lowest for pre-eclampsia was 0.92 (0.15-5.46), and for gestational diabetes was 0.65 (0.13-3.34).


CONCLUSIONS
Further study is necessary to determine if telomere length is associated with these pregnancy complications.
Harville
Emily W
EW
Department of Epidemiology, Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA. eharvill@tulane.edu.
Williams
Michelle A
MA
Qiu
Chun-Fang
CF
Mejia
Julie
J
Risques
Rosa Ana
RA