Sex differences in effects of maternal risk and protective factors in childhood and pregnancy on newborn telomere length.

ABSTRACT: Little research has examined determinants of newborn telomere length, a potential biomarker of lifetime disease risk impacted by prenatal exposures. No study has examined whether maternal exposures in childhood influence newborn telomere length or whether there are sex differences in the maternal factors that influence newborn telomere length. We tested whether a range of maternal risk and protective factors in childhood and pregnancy were associated with newborn telomere length among 151 sociodemographically diverse mother-infant dyads. We further examined whether the pattern of associations differed by infant sex. Newborn telomere length was assessed from cord blood collected at birth. Risk/protective factors included maternal health (smoking, body mass index), socioeconomic status (educ

SUBMITTER: Bosquet Enlow M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6109592 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature