Background
Methods
Study population and data collection
Cord blood and placental tissue collection
Average relative telomere length measurement
Statistical analysis
Results
Study population characteristics
Characteristic | Normal weight n = 488 | Overweight n = 175 | Obese n = 80 | P for trend |
---|---|---|---|---|
Newborn | ||||
Gender | ||||
Girls, n | 251 (51.4 %) | 84 (48.0 %) | 41 (51.3 %) | 0.73 |
European-Caucasian, n | 441 (90.4 %) | 151 (86.3 %) | 66 (82.5 %) | 0.07 |
Gestational age, weeks | 39.1 (1.5) | 39.3 (1.4) | 39.3 (1.7) | 0.27 |
Birth weight, g | 3351 (468) | 3490 (453) | 3502 (524) | 0.0005 |
Maternal | ||||
Age, years | 29.2 (4.5) | 29.3 (4.6) | 28.4 (4.5) | 0.34 |
Education | ||||
Low, n | 54 (11.1 %) | 18 (10.3 %) | 11 (13.8 %) | 0.25 |
Middle, n | 170 (34.8 %) | 70 (40.0 %) | 36 (45.0 %) | |
High, n | 264 (54.1 %) | 87 (49.7 %) | 33 (41.3 %) | |
Smoking status | ||||
Never smoker, n | 305 (62.5 %) | 109 (62.3 %) | 51 (63.8 %) | 0.80 |
Stopped smoker, n | 118 (24.2 %) | 39 (22.3 %) | 21 (26.3 %) | |
Continued smoker, n | 65 (13.3 %) | 27 (15.4 %) | 8 (10.0 %) | |
Cesarean section, n | 13 (2.7 %) | 13 (7.4 %) | 7 (8.8 %) | 0.005 |
Pregnancy complication, n | 38 (7.8 %) | 23 (13.1 %) | 17 (21.3 %) | 0.006 |
Parity | ||||
1, n | 285 (58.4 %) | 86 (49.1 %) | 46 (57.5 %) | 0.12 |
2, n | 158 (32.4 %) | 63 (36.0 %) | 28 (35.0 %) | |
≥3, n | 45 (9.2 %) | 26 (14.9 %) | 6 (7.5 %) | |
Pregnancy weight gain, kg | 14.9 (5.2) | 14.1 (6.5) | 11.4 (6.1) | <0.0001 |
Paternal | ||||
Age, years | 31.7 (4.9) | 31.7 (4.7) | 31.1 (5.7) | 0.59 |
Predictors of newborn telomere length
Association between pre-pregnancy BMI and newborn telomere length
Cord blood (n = 743) | Placenta (n = 702) | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Percentage change (95 % CI) | P value | Percentage change (95 % CI) | P value | |
Unadjusted | ||||
<25 kg/m2 a | Ref | Ref | ||
Overweightb | −3.0 (−6.1 to 0.3) | 0.07 | −4.2 (−7.9 to −0.3) | 0.03 |
Obesec | −5.7 (−9.8 to −1.3) | 0.01 | −3.7 (−8.8 to 1.6) | 0.17 |
Overweight + Obese | −3.8 (−6.5 to −1.0) | 0.008 | −4.1 (−7.3 to −0.7) | 0.02 |
Model A | ||||
<25 kg/m2 | Ref | Ref | ||
Overweightb | −2.5 (−5.6 to 0.8) | 0.13 | −4.2 (−7.8 to −0.3) | 0.04 |
Obesec | −5.2 (−9.3 to −0.9) | 0.02 | −3.6 (−8.7 to 1.8) | 0.19 |
Overweight + Obese | −3.3 (−6.0 to −0.5) | 0.02 | −4.0 (−7.3 to −0.6) | 0.02 |
Model B | ||||
<25 kg/m2 | Ref | Ref | ||
Overweightb | −2.5 (−5.6 to 0.8) | 0.14 | −4.6 (−8.4 to −0.7) | 0.02 |
Obesec | −5.5 (−9.7 to −1.1) | 0.01 | −4.2 (−9.3 to 1.3) | 0.13 |
Overweight + Obese | −3.4 (−6.2 to −0.5) | 0.01 | −4.5 (−7.8 to −1.0) | 0.01 |
Cord blood telomere length (n = 743) | Placental telomere length (n = 702) | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Percentage change (95 % CI) | P value | Percentage change (95 % CI) | P value | |
Unadjusted model | −0.52 (−0.85 to −0.20) | 0.002 | −0.60 (−0.99 to −0.20) | 0.003 |
Model A | −0.48 (−0.80 to −0.15) | 0.004 | −0.60 (−1.00 to −0.20) | 0.003 |
Model B | −0.50 (−0.83 to −0.17) | 0.003 | −0.66 (−1.06 to −0.25) | 0.002 |
Cord blood (n = 743) | Placenta (n = 702) | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Percentage change (95 % CI) | P value | Percentage change (95 % CI) | P value | |
Weight gain continuous | ||||
BMI, +1 kg/m2 | −0.51 (−0.85 to −0.17) | 0.003 | −0.64 (−1.06 to −0.23) | 0.002 |
Weight gain, +5.6 kg | −0.25 (−1.69 to 1.20) | 0.73 | 0.20 (−1.59 to 2.02) | 0.83 |
Weight gain categorical | ||||
BMI, +1 kg/m2 | −0.51 (−0.84 to −0.17) | 0.003 | −0.68 (−1.09 to −0.27) | 0.001 |
Sufficient | Ref | Ref | ||
Insufficient | 2.07 (−1.77 to 6.07) | 0.29 | 3.01 (−1.77 to 8.03) | 0.22 |
Excessive | 1.55 (−1.58 to 4.78) | 0.33 | 2.39 (−1.46 to 6.38) | 0.23 |
Cord blood telomere length | Placental telomere length | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
n | Percentage change (95 % CI) | P value | n | Percentage change (95 % CI) | P value | |
Model B | 743 | −0.50 (−0.83 to −0.17) | 0.003 | 702 | −0.66 (−1.06 to −0.25) | 0.002 |
Excluding non-European | 658 | −0.47 (−0.82 to −0.11) | 0.01 | 621 | −0.50 (−0.93 to −0.06) | 0.03 |
Excluding BMI < 18.5 kg/m2 | 714 | −0.43 (−0.78 to −0.07) | 0.02 | 675 | −0.61 (−1.03 to −0.17) | 0.006 |
Excluding cesarean sections | 710 | −0.50 (−0.84 to −0.16) | 0.004 | 673 | −0.59 (−1.00 to −0.18) | 0.005 |
Excluding pregnancy complications | 665 | −0.53 (−0.89 to −0.17) | 0.004 | 628 | −0.74 (−1.19 to −0.30) | 0.001 |
Excluding all above | 542 | −0.44 (−0.87 to −0.00) | 0.05 | 513 | −0.45 (−0.98 to 0.08) | 0.09 |