Prenatal Tobacco Exposure Shortens Telomere Length in Children
| Autor: | Keith T.S. Tung, Wen Deng, Purdy Ying Ting Chan, Brian H.Y. Chung, Wai Lap Wong, Godfrey Chi-Fung Chan, Patrick Ip, Frederick K. Ho, Wilfred Hing Sang Wong, Dingge Ying, Yu-Lung Lau, So Lun Lee |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2016 |
| Předmět: |
0301 basic medicine
Premature aging Adult Male medicine.medical_specialty Prenatal care Tobacco smoke 03 medical and health sciences Young Adult 0302 clinical medicine Telomere Homeostasis Pregnancy medicine Humans 030212 general & internal medicine Young adult Child Genetics Fetus business.industry Obstetrics Smoking Public Health Environmental and Occupational Health Case-control study Telomere medicine.disease 030104 developmental biology Social Class Case-Control Studies Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects Hong Kong Female Tobacco Smoke Pollution business |
| Zdroj: | Nicotinetobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. 19(1) |
| ISSN: | 1469-994X |
| Popis: | Introduction: Preliminary evidence suggests a possible association between prenatal tobacco exposure and telomere length in children. This study was conducted to investigate whether maternal smoking during pregnancy was associated with telomere shortening in their children and whether prenatal and childhood exposure to environmental tobacco had any impact on this association. Methods: This is a population-representative study on the association between prenatal tobacco exposure and telomere length in children. Ninety-eight Hong Kong Chinese children aged under 15 years with prenatal tobacco exposure and 98 age- and gender-matched controls were recruited from a population health study with stratified random sampling. Results: Telomere length in children with prenatal tobacco exposure was significantly shorter than in those with no exposure (mean T/S ratio = 24.9 [SD = 8.58] in exposed vs. 28.97 [14.15] in control groups; P = 0.02). A negative dose–response relationship was observed between the T/S ratio and tobacco exposure duration: the longer the duration of maternal smoking in pregnancy, the shorter the child’s telomere length. The association between the child’s telomere length and prenatal tobacco exposure remained significant after considering the influence of family socioeconomic status and exposure to environmental tobacco smoke during pregnancy and childhood. Conclusions: Prenatal tobacco exposure was associated with telomere shortening in children. As this may impose significant health impacts through fetal genetic programming, more efforts should be made to reduce fetal tobacco exposure by educating pregnant women to not smoke and motivating smokers to quit in early pregnancy. Implications: As reflected by telomere shortening, prenatal tobacco exposure in children can cause premature aging and increased health risks, which we suggest is entirely preventable. Not smoking during pregnancy or quitting smoking is critical to improving the health outcome of our future generations as prenatal tobacco exposure may affect children’s biological programming. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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