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Hum. Reprod. Advance Access published online on February 6, 2009
Human Reproduction, doi:10.1093/humrep/dep007
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
The online version of this article has been published under an open access model. Users are entitled to use, reproduce, disseminate, or display the open access version of this article for non-commercial purposes provided that: the original authorship is properly and fully attributed: the Journal and Oxford University Press are attributed as the original place of publication with the correct citation details given: if an article is subsequently reproduced or disseminated not in its entirety but only in part or as a derivative word this must be clearly indicated. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Telomere length and reproductive aging

Courtney W. Hanna1,{dagger}, Karla L. Bretherick1,{dagger}, Jane L. Gair2, Margo R. Fluker3,4,5, Mary D. Stephenson3,5,6,7 and Wendy P. Robinson1,8

1 Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver V6T 1Z3, Canada 2 Island Medical Program, University of Victoria, Victoria V8P 5C2, Canada 3 Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver V6H 3N1, Canada 4 Genesis Fertility Centre, Vancouver V5Z 3X7, Canada 5 Women’s Health Centre of British Columbia, Vancouver V6H 3N1, Canada 6 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Chicago, Chicago 60637, USA 7 Recurrent Pregnancy Loss Program, University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago 60637, USA

8 Correspondence address. Child and Family Research Institute, 950 W. 28th Ave, rm 3096, Vancouver, BC V5Z 4H4, Canada. Tel: +1-604-875-3229; Fax: +1-604-875-3120; E-mail: wprobins{at}interchange.ubc.ca

BACKGROUND: Rate of reproductive aging may be related to rate of biological aging. Thus, indicators of aging, such as short telomere length, may be more frequent in women with a history suggestive of premature reproductive senescence.

METHODS: Telomere-specific quantitative PCR was used to assess telomere length in two groups of women with evidence of reproductive aging: (i) patients with idiopathic premature ovarian failure (POF, N = 34) and (ii) women with a history of recurrent miscarriage (RM, N = 95); and two control groups: (1) women from the general population (C1, N = 108) and (2) women who had a healthy pregnancy after 37 years of age (C2, N = 46).

RESULTS: The RM group had shorter age-adjusted mean telomere length than controls (8.46 versus 8.92 kb in C1 and 9.11 kb in C2, P = 0.0004 and P = 0.02 for C1 and C2, respectively), although short telomeres were not confined to subsets of this group known to have experienced single or multiple trisomic pregnancies. Although sample size is limited, mean telomere length in the POF group was significantly longer than that in C1 (9.58 versus 8.92 kb, P = 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS: Women experiencing RM may have shorter telomeres as a consequence of a more rapid rate of aging, or as a reflection of an increased level of cellular stress. Longer telomere length in the POF group may be explained by abnormal hormone exposure, slow cell division rates or autoimmunity in these women. Despite small sample sizes, these results suggest that different manifestations of reproductive aging are likely influenced by distinct physiological factors.

Key words: telomere length/premature ovarian failure/recurrent miscarriage/trisomic pregnancy/reproductive aging

{dagger} These authors contributed equally to this work.

Submitted on September 29, 2008; resubmitted on December 15, 2008; accepted on December 28, 2008.


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The Common Factor may be Low DHEA.
James M. Howard
Human Reproduction, 20 May 2009 [Full text]

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