Earlier maternal menarche is associated with shorter newborn telomere length

The aim of our study was to investigate the relationship between maternal age at menarche and newborn telomere length which has been linked to lifespan and many age-related diseases. There were 734 mother-newborn pairs recruited from Wuhan Children's Hospital Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. Age at menarche was self-reported and categorized into three groups (≤ 12 years, 13 years, and ≥ 14 years). Telomere length in cord blood was measured using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and expressed as the ratio of telomere copy number to single-copy gene number (T/S). The mean age at menarche of 734 mothers was 13.1 (± 1.1) years and the adjusted geometric means in the T/S of newborn telomeres in the three groups were 0.693, 0.721, and 0.748 respectively. Earlier age at menarche (≤ 12 years), compared with later age at menarche ≥ 14 years, was significantly associated with 7.32% (95% CI - 13.70%, - 0.23%) shorter telomere length in offspring after adjusting for potential confounders.Conclusion: Mothers with earlier age at menarche were more likely to give birth newborn with shorter telomere length. Our study provides evidences for the effect of earlier menarche on fetal telomere programming in offspring. What is Known: • Newborn telomere length is considered an indicator of lifespan and health outcomes in later life. • The adverse effects of earlier menarche age to their offspring have been found, but its relationship with newborn telomere length has not been assessed before. What is New: • This is the first study to explore the relationship of maternal menarche age with newborn telomere length. • We provided primary evidence that earlier maternal age at menarche was associated with shorter newborn telomere length.