The Relationship Between Multiple Metals In Maternal Urine And Newborn Telomere Length

BackgroundThe shortening of telomere length is related to many aging-related diseases,and newborn telomere length can be used as a potential biomarker of life-long health and disease.Exposure of metals during pregnancy can hinder the growth and development of newborns,and may affect newborn telomere length.However,the relationship between metals exposure during pregnancy and newborn telomere length is still controversial,which needs to be further discussed.ObjectiveThis study intends to explore the relationship between urine metals level of pregnant women and newborn telomere length.The results can provide evidence for the impact of environmental exposure in early life on telomere development,help to demonstrate the theory of the "Development Origin of Health and Disease",and have important public health significance to protect human health.MethodsThe research objects were derived from the Birth Cohort Study on Prenatal Environments and Offspring Health(PEOH)established at Panyu District Cental Hospital in Guangzhou City,Guangdong Province from January 2016 to December 2017.Through questionnaire surveys and the hospital’s electronic medical record system,the subject’s general demographic characteristics,lifestyle during pregnancy,pregnancy and childbirth,and other information were obtained,and urine samples during pregnancy and neonatal cord blood samples were collected.Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry(ICP-MS)was used to detect the concentration of metals in pregnant women’s urine;fluorescence quantitiative PCR was used to determine the relative telomere length of cord blood leukocytes.A multiple linear regression model was used to analyze the association between metals exposure during pregnancy and newborn telomere length.The restricted cubic spline model was used to evaluate the dose-response relationship between the concentration of metals during pregnancy and newborn telomere length.ResultsA total of 1351 analysis of mothers and infants were included in this study,and the median(interquartile range)of relative newborn telomere length was 1.367(1.185～1.656).After adjustment for maternal age,pre-pregnancy BMI,maternal educational level,parity,paternal age,household disposable income,active and passive somking during pregnancy,alcohol consumption during pregnancy,physical exercise during pregnancy,gestational diabetes mellitus,infant sex,birth weight,and premature delivery,we found that compared with urinary nickel during pregnancy in the lowest quartile,that in the third quantile was related to 0.054%(95%CI:0.011,0.094)longer in cord blood telomere length.In the stratified analyses,the correlation between maternal urinary selenium,nickel and antimony concentrations and newborn telomere length was more significant among female infants,fathers≥32 years and the mothers≥30 years;while the correlation between maternal urinary nickel and antimony and newborn telomere length was more significant among BMI<24 kg/m2 group and BMI≥24 kg/m2 group,respectively.Results from the spline analyses suggested that the linear dose-response relationship between maternal urinary nickel concentration and newborn telomere length was not statistically significant.ConclusionsThis study observed a significant positive correlation between nickel concentration in pregnant women’s urine and newborn telomere length,but didn’t show a monotonic linear dose-response relationship;factors such as neonatal gender,pre-pregnancy BMI,father’s age and mother’s age modified the relationship between pregnant women’s urine metals levels and newborn telomere length.