title: The known genetic loci for telomere length may be involved in the modification of telomeres length after birth.
abstract: Telomere length varies considerably among individuals. It is highly heritable and decreases with ageing or ageing related diseases. Recently, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified several genetic loci associated with telomere length in adults. However, it is unclear whether these loci represent the genetic basis of telomere length or determine the individual susceptibility to shortening during growth process. Using DNA extracted from peripheral and cord blood of 444 mother-newborn pairs from a Chinese population, we measured relative telomere length (RTL) and genotyped eight known telomere length related variants that were initially identified in populations of European descent. We observed the T allele of rs10936599 and the T allele of rs2736100 were norminally associated with shorter RTL (P = 0.041 and 0.046, respectively) in maternal samples. Furthermore, the Weighted genetic score (WGS) of eight variants was significantly associated with RTL in maternal samples (R2= 0.012, P = 0.025). However, we didn't detect any significant associations for any individual variant or the combined WGS with RTL in newborns. These findings didn't support the hypothesis that telomere length related loci may affect telomere length at birth, and we suggested that these loci may play a role in telomere length modification during life course.
authors.affiliation: Drum Tower Clinical Medical College, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210008, China.|State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, China.|Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Affiliated to Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing 210008, China.
authors.forename: Qiao
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Weng
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, China.|Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, China.
authors.forename: Jiangbo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, China.|Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, China.
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, China.
authors.forename: Tongtong
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, China.
authors.forename: Mengxi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, China.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, China.
authors.forename: Hongxia
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, China.|Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, China.
authors.forename: Zhibin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, China.|Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, China.
authors.forename: Guangfu
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Drum Tower Clinical Medical College, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210008, China.|Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Affiliated to Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing 210008, China.
authors.forename: Yali
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, China.|Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, China.
authors.forename: Hongbing
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000483:Alleles; D002681:China; D004247:DNA / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D011247:Pregnancy; D016615:Telomere; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D004247:DNA