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. 2015;66(4):202-8.
doi: 10.1159/000381925. Epub 2015 Jun 9.

Maternal Folate Concentration in Early Pregnancy and Newborn Telomere Length

Sonja Entringer  1 , Elissa S Epel, Jue Lin, Elizabeth H Blackburn, Claudia Buss, Babak Shahbaba, Daniel L Gillen, Raman Venkataramanan, Hyagriv N Simhan, Pathik D Wadhwa
Affiliations

Maternal Folate Concentration in Early Pregnancy and Newborn Telomere Length

Sonja Entringer et al. Ann Nutr Metab. 2015.

Abstract

Background/aims: Telomere biology plays a fundamental role in genomic integrity and cell physiology. The newborn setting of telomere length (TL) likely has important implications for telomere dynamics over the lifespan; however, its determinants are poorly understood. Folate is essential for DNA integrity. The maternal compartment is the only source of folate for the developing fetus. We, therefore, tested the hypothesis that variation in maternal folate during pregnancy is associated with newborn TL.

Methods: A prospective, longitudinal study was conducted in 119 mother-newborn dyads. Eligible mothers were enrolled at 9.5 (SD ±2.1) weeks gestation and followed through birth. Concentrations of maternal serum folate were measured in the first trimester of pregnancy. Newborn telomere length was measured in cord blood mononuclear cells (CBMC).

Results: After accounting for the effects of other established determinants of newborn TL, each 10 ng/ml increase in maternal total folate was associated with a 5.8% increase in median TL (p = 0.03). The median TL in newborns of mother in the lowest quartile of total folate levels was approximately 10% shorter than that of newborns of mothers in the highest folate quartile.

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that fetal TL exhibits developmental plasticity, and provide evidence that maternal nutrition may exert a 'programming' effect on this system.

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Conflict of interest statement

Potential Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflict of interest relevant to this article to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Panel A Scatterplot depicting the association between maternal total folate concentrations and residualized cord blood mononuclear cell (CBMC) telomere length (T/S ratio). Newborn CBMC telomere length was residualized (adjusted) by regressing it on the covariates (maternal SES, race/ethnicity, pre-pregnancy BMI, length of gestation, birth weight, infant sex, obstetric complications), and it is depicted in its original scale (as opposed to the log scale). Panel B: Mean adjusted cord blood PMBC telomere length (T/S ratio, ± standard error of the mean (SEM)) for newborns of mothers who fall in the lowest quartile (“low maternal total folate concentration”) vs. newborns of mothers in the highest folate quartile (“high maternal total folate concentration”).
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