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Background: Immigrant Arab American families face multiple stressors related to migration and resettlement. Telomere length (TL) is an established biomarker of aging and psychosocial stress. No published studies have concurrently examined the association between maternal and paternal psychosocial factors and infants' TL. The purpose of this study was to: (1) compare mother, father, and infant TLs; (2) explore the association of maternal and paternal psychosocial factors (acculturative stress and depressive symptoms) with maternal and paternal TL; and (3) explore the association of maternal and paternal psychosocial factors with infants' TL among Arab American immigrants. Method: Using a cross-sectional exploratory design, a sample of 52 immigrant Arab American mother-father-infant triads were recruited from community centers. Data were collected in a single home visit when the infant was 6–24 months old. Each parent completed the study questionnaires addressing their psychosocial factors (acculturative stress, and depressive symptoms), then parents and infants provided buccal cell for TL measurement. Results: Maternal TL was positively correlated to infants' TL (r =.31, p =.04) and significantly shorter (p <.001). Paternal TL was not correlated with infant TL but was significantly shorter than infant's TL (p <.001). Maternal depression was significantly correlated with mothers' TL (r =.4, p =.007). Higher levels of maternal depressive symptoms were significantly associated with shorter infant TL when controlling for background characteristics. Conclusions: Our pilot study is the first study to examine maternal and paternal psychosocial factors related to migration and infants' TL. More research is needed to advance our understanding of the effects of immigration on the intergenerational transfer of stress and trauma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with mental and physical health risks that, through biological and psychosocial pathways, likely span generations. Within an individual, telomere length (TL), an established marker of cellular stress and aging, is associated with both ACE exposure and psychopathology, providing the basis for an emerging literature suggesting that TL is a biomarker of the health risks linked to early-life adversity both within and across generations. The authors tested the effect of maternal ACEs on both the trajectory of infant TL and infant social-emotional problems at 18 months of age.Methods: Pregnant women were recruited, and maternal scores on the Adverse Childhood Experience questionnaire were obtained, along with demographic and prenatal stress measures. Postnatal visits with 155 mother-infant dyads occurred when infants were 4, 12, and 18 months of age. At each visit, infant buccal swabs were collected for TL measurement, and mothers completed measures of maternal depression. Mothers also completed the Child Behavior Checklist at the 18-month visit. Mixed-effects modeling was used to test how maternal ACEs influenced infant TL trajectory. Linear regression was used to test the association between maternal ACEs and infant internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Finally, the interaction between telomere attrition from 4 to 18 months and maternal ACEs was examined as a predictor of infant scores on the Child Behavior Checklist.Results: Higher maternal ACEs were associated with shorter infant TL across infancy and higher infant externalizing behavioral problems at 18 months. No associations were found with internalizing behavioral problems. Telomere attrition from 4 to 18 months interacted with maternal ACEs to predict externalizing behaviors. In infants whose mothers reported higher scores on the Adverse Childhood Experience questionnaire, greater telomere attrition predicted higher externalizing problems, even when accounting for maternal postnatal depression and prenatal stress.Conclusions: These data demonstrate an interactive pathway between maternal early-life adversity and infant TL that predicts emerging behavioral problems in the next generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Health disparities begin early in life and persist across the life course. Despite current efforts, black women exhibit greater risk for pregnancy complications and negative perinatal outcomes compared with white women. The placenta, which is a complex multi-tissue organ, serves as the primary transducer of bidirectional information between the mother and fetus. Altered placental function is linked to multiple racially disparate pregnancy complications; however, little is known about racial differences in molecular factors within the placenta. Several pregnancy complications, which include preeclampsia and fetal growth restriction, exhibit racial disparities and are associated with shorter placental telomere length, which is an indicator of cellular stress and aging. Cellular senescence and telomere dynamics are linked to the molecular mechanisms that are associated with the onset of labor and parturition. Further, racial differences in telomere length are found in a range of different peripheral tissues. Together these factors suggest that exploration of racial differences in telomere length of the placenta may provide novel mechanistic insight into racial disparities in birth outcomes.Objective: This study examined whether telomere length measured in 4 distinct fetally derived tissues were significantly different between black and white women. The study had 2 hypotheses: (1) that telomere length that is measured in different placental tissue types would be correlated and (2) that across all sampled tissues telomere length would differ by race.Study Design: In a prospective study, placental tissue samples were collected from the amnion, chorion, villus, and umbilical cord from black and white singleton pregnancies (N=46). Telomere length was determined with the use of monochrome multiplex quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction in each placental tissue. Demographic and pregnancy-related data were also collected. Descriptive statistics characterized the sample overall and among black and white women separately. The overall impact of race was assessed by multilevel mixed-effects linear regression models that included empirically relevant covariates.Results: Telomere length was correlated significantly across all placental tissues. Pairwise analyses of placental tissue telomere length revealed significantly longer telomere length in the amnion compared with the chorion (t=-2.06; P=.043). Overall telomere length measured in placenta samples from black mothers were significantly shorter than those from white mothers (β=-0.09; P=.04). Controlling for relevant maternal and infant characteristics strengthened the significance of the observed racial differences (β=-0.12; P=.02). Within tissue analyses revealed that the greatest difference by race was found in chorionic telomere length (t=-2.81; P=.007).Conclusion: These findings provide the first evidence of racial differences in placental telomere length. Telomere length was significantly shorter in placental samples from black mothers compared with white mothers. Given previous studies that have reported that telomere length, cellular senescence, and telomere dynamics are molecular factors that contribute to the rupture of the amniotic sac, onset of labor, and parturition, our findings of shorter telomere length in placentas from black mothers suggest that accelerated cellular aging across placental tissues may be relevant to the increased risk of preterm delivery in black pregnancies. Our results suggest that racial differences in cellular aging in the placenta contribute to the earliest roots of health disparities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This article describes progress to date in the characterization of the salivary epigenome and considers the importance of previous work in the salivary microbiome, proteome, endocrine analytes, genome, and transcriptome. Methods: PubMed and Web of Science were used to extensively search the existing literature (original research and reviews) related to salivary diagnostics and biomarker development, of which 125 studies were examined. This article was derived from the most relevant 74 sources highlighting the recent state of the evolving field of salivary epigenomics and contributing significantly to the foundational work in saliva-based research. Findings: Validation of any new saliva-based diagnostic or analyte will require comparison to previously accepted standards established in blood. Careful attention to the collection, processing, and analysis of salivary analytes is critical for the development and implementation of newer applications that include genomic, transcriptomic, and epigenomic markers. All these factors must be integrated into initial study design. Implications: This commentary highlights the appeal of the salivary epigenome for translational applications and its utility in future studies of development and the interface among environment, disease, and health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• High maternal ACE exposure predicted shorter placental TL. • Placental TL moderated the relation between maternal ACE and infant RSA. • Infant health may be influenced by maternal preconception adversity. • Maternal ACE-related infant ANS differences are influenced by placental aging. To test alterations in placental cellular aging as one pathway by which maternal early adversity influences physiologic development in her offspring. Maternal report of her adverse childhood experiences (ACE) was obtained prenatally along with measures of prenatal stress and demographic information. Placentas (N = 67) were collected at birth and telomere length (TL) was measured in four separate fetally-derived placental tissues: amnion, chorion, villus, and umbilical cord. At four months of age, infants completed the still-face paradigm (SFP) during which respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) data were collected; RSA reactivity and RSA recovery was available from 44 and 41 infants respectively. Multi-level mixed effects models examined the impact of maternal ACE score on placental TL. Generalized linear models tested the relation between composite placental TL and infant RSA, as well as the moderation of maternal ACE score and infant RSA by composite placental TL. Higher maternal ACE score significantly predicted shorter placental TL across tissues (β = −0.015; P = 0.036) and infant RSA across the SFP. No direct relation was found between placental TL and RSA, however composite placental TL moderated the relation between ACE score and both infant RSA reactivity (β = 0.025; P = 0.005) and RSA recovery (β = −0.028; P = 0.032). In infants with shorter composite placental TL, higher ACE score predicted greater RSA suppression during the still-face epoch relative to play period 1 and greater RSA augmentation during play period 2 relative to the still-face epoch. These data are the first, to our knowledge, to report that changes in placental TL influence the transgenerational impact of maternal early life adversity on the development of her offspring's autonomic nervous system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tissue source has been shown to exert a significant effect on the magnitude of associations between telomere length and various health outcomes and exposures. The purpose of the present qualitative review and meta-analysis is to describe and investigate the impact of study design and methodological features on the correlation between telomere lengths measured in different tissues from the same healthy individual. This meta-analysis included studies published from 1988 to 2022. Databases searched included PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science and studies were identified using the keywords "telomere length" and "tissues" or "tissue." A total of 220 articles of 7856 initially identified studies met inclusion criteria for qualitative review, of which 55 met inclusion criteria for meta-analysis in R Studies meeting inclusion criteria for meta-analysis tended to have enhanced demographic and methodological reporting relative to studies only included in the qualitative review. A total of 463 pairwise correlations reported for 4324 unique individuals and 102 distinct tissues were extracted from the 55 studies and subject to meta-analysis, resulting in a significant effect size z = 0.66 (p < 0.0001) and meta-correlation coefficient of r = 0.58. Meta-correlations were significantly moderated by sample size and telomere length measurement methodology, with studies of smaller size and those using hybridization-based analyses exhibiting the largest meta-correlation. Tissue source also significantly moderated the meta-correlation, wherein correlations between samples of a different lineage (e.g., blood vs. non-blood) or collection method (e.g., peripheral vs. surgical) were lower than correlations between samples of the same lineage or collection method. These results suggest that telomere lengths measured within individuals are generally correlated, but future research should be intentional in selecting a tissue for telomere length measurement that is most biologically relevant to the exposure or outcome investigated and balance this with the feasibility of obtaining the sample in sufficient numbers of individuals. [Display omitted] • We review research investigating correlations of telomere length assessed in different tissues of the same healthy individual. • Telomere length from tissues within a health individual are significant correlated irrespective of age or sex. • Telomere length measurement methodology, study sample size and tissue source affect the magnitude of the meta-correlation coefficient. • Future research should require precise demographic and methodologic reporting and select tissues with the strongest biologic relevance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies examining the association between early adversity and longitudinal changes in telomere length within the same individual are rare, yet are likely to provide novel insight into the subsequent lasting effects of negative early experiences. We sought to examine the association between institutional care history and telomere shortening longitudinally across middle childhood and into adolescence. Buccal DNA was collected 2–4 times, between the ages of 6 and 15 years, in 79 children enrolled in the Bucharest Early Intervention Project (BEIP), a longitudinal study exploring the impact of early institutional rearing on child health and development. Children with a history of early institutional care (n= 50) demonstrated significantly greater telomere shortening across middle childhood and adolescence compared to never institutionalized children (n= 29). Among children with a history of institutional care, randomization to high quality foster care was not associated with differential telomere attrition across development. Cross-sectional analysis of children randomized to the care as usual group indicated shorter telomere length was associated with greater percent of the child’s life spent in institutional care up to age 8. These results suggest that early adverse care from severe psychosocial deprivation may be embedded at the molecular genetic level through accelerated telomere shortening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Telomere length (TL) has been linked to several psychiatric conditions in children and adults. Telomere shortening is accelerated by early adversity, including maltreatment and psychosocial deprivation. These experiences also increase the risk of psychopathology in many domains. Two fundamental issues remain unresolved. The first concerns the specificity of the relations between TL and different dimensions of psychopathology; and the second relates to the direction of association between TL and psychopathology.Method: This study addressed these shortcomings in a 2-fold manner. First, the association between TL and statistically independent general, internalizing, and externalizing psychopathology factors was examined to determine the specificity of this relation. Second, a 2-wave longitudinal cross-lagged model was used to explicitly examine the direction of the relation between TL and each psychopathology factor. Data were drawn from the Bucharest Early Intervention Project, a longitudinal study exploring the impact of severe psychosocial deprivation on child health and development (N = 195). At 8 to 10 and 12 to 14 years of age, buccal DNA was collected and teachers and/or caregivers reported on different domains of psychopathology.Results: Longitudinal path analyses showed that shorter TL was specifically associated with higher internalizing psychopathology at 8 to 10 years of age. In contrast, at 12 to 14 years, shorter TL was associated with higher general psychopathology. Most telling, internalizing psychopathology at 8 to 10 years predicted shorter TL at 12 to 14 years, with no reciprocal effects.Conclusion: Results suggest that telomere erosion could be a consequence of distress-related psychopathology rather than a selection mechanism for later psychiatric problems.Clinical Trial Registration Information: The Bucharest Early Intervention Project; https://clinicaltrials.gov/; NCT00747396. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]