title: Maternal psychosocial stress during pregnancy is associated with newborn leukocyte telomere length.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  In adults, one of the major determinants of leukocyte telomere length (LTL), a predictor of age-related diseases and mortality, is cumulative psychosocial stress exposure. More recently we reported that exposure to maternal psychosocial stress during intrauterine life is associated with LTL in young adulthood. The objective of the present study was to determine how early in life this effect of stress on LTL is apparent by quantifying the association of maternal psychosocial stress during pregnancy with newborn telomere length.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a prospective study of N = 27 mother-newborn dyads maternal pregnancy-specific stress was assessed in early gestation and cord blood peripheral blood mononuclear cells were subsequently collected and analyzed for LTL measurement.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After accounting for the effects of potential determinants of newborn LTL (gestational age at birth, weight, sex, and exposure to antepartum obstetric complications), there was a significant, independent, linear effect of pregnancy-specific stress on newborn LTL that accounted for 25% of the variance in adjusted LTL (β = -0.099; P = .04).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our finding provides the first preliminary evidence in human beings that maternal psychological stress during pregnancy may exert a "programming" effect on the developing telomere biology system that is already apparent at birth, as reflected by the setting of newborn LTL.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine, Irvine, CA 92697, USA.
authors.forename: Sonja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Entringer
authors.forename: Elissa S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Epel
authors.forename: Jue
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Buss
authors.forename: Babak
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Shahbaba
authors.forename: Elizabeth H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Blackburn
authors.forename: Hyagriv N
authors.initials: HN
authors.lastname: Simhan
authors.forename: Pathik D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Wadhwa
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001724:Birth Weight; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000166:cytology; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000523:psychology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D059505:Telomere Homeostasis; D055815:Young Adult