ArticlePediatrics2016
Leukocyte Telomere Length in Newborns: Implications for the Role of Telomeres in Human Disease.
Article in Pediatrics, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 152 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
152 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 251 citations in OpenAlex.
- A Systematic Review of Telomere Length and Telomerase Activity in Preeclampsia: Maternal, Placental, and Cord Blood Perspectives.Medical sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Pooled it
- Maternal smoking during pregnancy and newborn telomere length (TL): a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Pooled it
- A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Highlights a Link Between Aerobic Fitness and Telomere Maintenance.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2025Pooled it
- Telomere Length in Patients with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus and Normoglycemic Pregnant Women: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Reproductive sciences (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) · 2024Pooled it
- Telomere Length, a New Biomarker of Male (in)Fertility? A Systematic Review of the Literature.Genes · 2023Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Telomere length in granulosa cells and leukocytes: a potential marker of female fertility? A systematic review of the literature.Journal of ovarian research · 2020Pooled it
- Quantile regression of the relationship between demographic factors and leukocyte telomere length, measured by Southern blot and qPCR.GeroScience · 2026Article
- Early Adversity Imprints Multisystem Biological Aging: A Longitudinal Study of Adversity Dimensions and Aging Phenotypes Across Adolescence.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2026Article
- Diagnosis and management of adult telomere biology disorders.Haematologica · 2026Review
- Plasma Proteome Signature for Leukocyte Telomere Length and Its Link to Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm.Journal of cellular and molecular medicine · 2026Article
- Evaluation of the Telomere Length in Patients with Spinal Muscular Atrophy.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- The leaves fall, yet the tree endures.Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS · 2025Review
- Association of leukocyte telomere length with anti-HBsAg antibody titer in Hepatitis-B recovered patients from the Pakistani population.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Correlation of telomere length between full and preterm neonates and their mothers.Experimental and therapeutic medicine · 2025Article
- Article
- Addressing Sex as a Biological Variable in Preclinical Models of Lung Disease: An Official American Thoracic Society Research Statement.American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine · 2025Article
- Shortening Leukocyte Telomere Length Associated With Elevated Blood Diabetes-Related Cardiovascular Risk Factor in Thai Adolescents.Food science & nutrition · 2025Article
- Neonatal multimorbidity and the phenotype of premature aging in preterm infants.Pediatric research · 2025Review
- Telomeres in Space.Aging cell · 2025Article
92 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
objectiveIn adults, leukocyte telomere length (LTL) is variable, familial, and longer in women and in offspring conceived by older fathers. Although short LTL is associated with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, long LTL is associated with major cancers. The prevailing notion is that LTL is a "telomeric clock," whose movement (expressed in LTL attrition) reflects the pace of aging. Accordingly, individuals with short LTL are considered to be biologically older than their peers. Recent studies suggest that LTL is largely determined before adulthood. We examined whether factors that largely characterize LTL in adults also influence LTL in newborns.
methodsLTL was measured in blood samples from 490 newborns and their parents.
resultsLTL (mean ± SD) was longer (9.50 ± 0.70 kb) in newborns than in their mothers (7.92 ± 0.67 kb) and fathers (7.70 ± 0.71 kb) (both P < .0001); there was no difference in the variance of LTL among the 3 groups. Newborn LTL correlated more strongly with age-adjusted LTL in mothers (r = 0.47; P < .01) than in fathers (r = 0.36; P < .01) (P for interaction = .02). Newborn LTL was longer by 0.144 kb in girls than in boys (P = .02), and LTL was longer by 0.175 kb in mothers than in fathers (P < .0001). For each 1-year increase in father's age, newborn LTL increased by 0.016 kb (95% confidence interval: 0.04 to 0.28) (P = .0086).
conclusionsThe large LTL variation across newborns challenges the telomeric clock model. Having inherently short or long LTL may be largely determined at birth, anteceding by decades disease manifestation in adults.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.