Pilot Study of Absolute Telomere Lengths in Preterm Infants.
Pilot Study of Absolute Telomere Lengths in Preterm Infants.
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DOI：
10.1097/nnr.0000000000000535
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发表时间：
2021-11-01
期刊：
影响因子：
2.5
通讯作者：
Cong XS
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Casavant SG;Li H;Reese B;Chen MH;Cong XS
全球每年约有1500万婴儿早产（胎龄< 37周）。在新生儿重症监护室（NICU）环境中，婴儿暴露于反复的压力或痛苦的程序，作为常规救生护理的一部分。这些程序与可能导致神经发育障碍风险增加的表观遗传学改变有关。在成人研究中，端粒长度与不良生活经历呈负相关。这项初步研究的目的是描述端粒长度的早产儿在新生儿重症监护病房出院的样本，并检查任何与疼痛，喂养方法和神经发育的关联。该描述性初步研究样本包括36名早产儿出院前的基线绝对端粒长度（aTL）。定量聚合酶链反应（qPCR）用于确定绝对端粒长度。收集婴儿人口统计学、疼痛/压力、喂养类型、抗生素使用、神经发育和口腔拭子数据。描述性数据分析用于使用图表描述端粒长度。在我们的早产儿样本中，平均绝对端粒长度远大于平均成人端粒长度。虽然绝对端粒长度与疼痛，喂养方法和神经发育之间没有显着关联，但性别之间的趋势是男性端粒长度随着年龄的增长而短于女性。这是为数不多的评估早产儿端粒长度的研究之一。虽然其他研究人员使用相对端粒长度，我们使用更准确的绝对端粒长度。我们发现男性的端粒长度较短，但并不显著。需要进行额外的大规模纵向研究，以更好地确定从NICU出院时端粒长度的预测因素。
Annually, approximately 15 million babies are born preterm (< 37 weeks gestational age) globally. In the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) environment, infants are exposed to repeated stressful or painful procedures as part of routine lifesaving care. These procedures have been associated with epigenetic alterations that may lead to an increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders. Telomere length has been negatively associated with adverse life experiences in studies of adults. This pilot study aimed to describe telomere length in a sample of preterm infants at NICU discharge and examine any associations with pain, feeding method, and neurodevelopment. This descriptive pilot study sample includes baseline absolute telomere length (aTL) of 36 preterm infants immediately prior to discharge. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was used to determine absolute telomere length. Infant demographics, pain/stress, type of feeding, antibiotic use, neurodevelopment, and buccal swab data were collected. Descriptive data analysis was used to describe the telomere length using graphs. Among our preterm infant samples, the mean absolute telomere length was far greater than the average adult telomere length. While no significant associations were found between absolute telomere length and pain, feeding method, and neurodevelopment, a trend between sex was noted where male telomere lengths were shorter than females as they aged. This is one of few studies to evaluate preterm infant telomere length. While other researchers have used relative telomere length, we used the more accurate absolute telomere length. We found nonsignificant shorter telomere lengths among males. Additional large-scale, longitudinal studies are needed to better identify the predictors of telomere length at the time of discharge from NICU.