| |
Perinatal Complications and Aging Indicators by Midlife
|
| |
| |
Download the PDF here
2014 Nov
Discussion
Following a cohort from birth to midlife, we found that newborns who presented with more perinatal complications exhibited greater signs of accelerated aging at age 38 years. We observed indications of accelerated aging inside, as measured objectively by leukocyte TL, an indicator of cellular aging, and outside, as measured subjectively by perceived age, an indicator of declining tissue integrity.
What's Known on This Subject:
Perinatal complications predict increased risk for morbidity and early mortality. Evidence of perinatal programming of adult mortality raises the question of what mechanisms embed this long-term effect. Telomere length and perceived facial age are 2 indicators of accelerated aging.
What This Study Adds:
Perinatal complications predicted greater signs of accelerated aging "inside," as measured objectively by leukocyte telomere length, an indicator of cellular aging, and "outside," as measured subjectively by perceived age, an indicator of declining integrity of tissues.
RESULTS: Both our subjective and objective aging indicators were related in the expected direction. Age-38 leukocyte TL and perceived age were significantly and negatively correlated (r = -0.086, P = .01). Study members with shorter telomeres tended to look older.
Perinatal complications predicted both age-38 TL (β = -0.101; 95% CI, -0.169 to -0.033; P = .004) (Fig 1A) and age-38 perceived age (β = 0.097; 95% CI, 0.029-0.165; P = .005) (Fig 1B). Study members who had more perinatal complications had shorter telomeres and looked older. Although women had somewhat longer age-38 telomeres than men (men = 1.038 T/S ratio; women = 1.059 T/S ratio, P = .351), associations between perinatal complications and aging indicators did not differ significantly between men and women, which is consistent with results of a recent meta-analysis.32
Two biomarkers associated with accelerated aging are telomere length (TL) and perceived age.7,8 Telomeres, the protective caps at the end of chromosomes, erode in somatic tissues with each division of a cell. Both animal and human studies support a link between short TL and early mortality.9-13 Thus, the length of telomeres has been proposed as a "biological clock" for studying cellular aging across the life span and can be observed already in midlife while people are still healthy.14,15 New work has raised the possibility of fetal programming of telomere biology, whereby stress-related maternal-placental-fetal interactions during intrauterine growth regulate the initial setting of TL at birth.6,16,17 Perceived facial age is an assessment of how old a person looks relative to his or her chronological age. The visual signs of aging (eg, skin wrinkles) reflect declining tissue integrity, indicative of the aging process.18 Perceived age is widely used as a general indicator of health by clinicians and is correlated with both TL and early mortality.8,18,19
We tested the hypothesis that people who experienced perinatal complications would exhibit these signs of accelerated aging by midlife. We followed a cohort prospectively from birth to age 38 years and tested whether those with perinatal complications (assessed at birth) exhibited greater signs of aging inside and outside, that is, at the cellular level (TL) and at the level of facial appearance (perceived age).
There have been 30 deaths since age 3; however, these deaths were not due to aging-related diseases. Causes include road accidents, suicide, overdose, and childhood cancers. By age 38 years, 8 of 829 study members had developed an aging-related diagnosis of type II diabetes, heart attack, stroke, or cancer. The Otago Ethics Committee approved each phase of the study, and informed consent was obtained from all study members.
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
