4.0 Article

Low Birth Weight in MZ Twins Discordant for Birth Weight is Associated with Shorter Telomere Length and lower IQ, but not Anxiety/Depression in Later Life

Journal

TWIN RESEARCH AND HUMAN GENETICS
Volume 18, Issue 2, Pages 198-209

Publisher

CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1017/thg.2015.3

Keywords

twins; birth weight; telomere length; IQ; anxiety/depression

Funding

  1. Australian Research Council [A7960034, A79906588, A79801419, DP0212016, DP0343921, FT0991022]
  2. National Health and Medical Research Council [389891, 1049911, 1069141, APP0613674]
  3. EU ENGAGE consortium [FP7-HEALTH-F4-2007-201413]
  4. Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research [NWO 900-562-137, 904-61-090, 985-10-002, 904-61-193, 56-464-14192, 400-03-330, 480-04004, 400-07-080, 911-09-032, 451-06-004, 451-08-026, 451-10-005]
  5. Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development [ZonMW 3100.0038, 940-37-024, 31160008]
  6. EMGO + Institute for Health and Care Research
  7. Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam
  8. BBMRI -NL (Biobanking and Biomolecular Resources Research Infrastructure) [184.021.007]
  9. National Institutes of Health [NIH 5R37DA018673-03, R01 MH059160, 1RC2 MH089951-01, 4R37DA018673-06, 1R01 MH087646-01A1]
  10. National Institute of Mental Health [RFAMH08120]
  11. Brain and Behavior Research Foundation [18633]
  12. FP7 ENGAGE [FP7-HEALTH-F4-2007-201413]
  13. European Research Council [230374-GMI, 284167]
  14. Rutgers University [3797]
  15. NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship
  16. NHMRC CJ Martin Early Career Fellowship
  17. NHMRC
  18. Australian Twin Registry
  19. MCRI
  20. Victorian Government Operational Infrastructure support program
  21. University of Heidelberg
  22. Psychosis Centre, Department for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
  23. NHMRC-EU Project [496739]
  24. MRC [MR/M012816/1] Funding Source: UKRI
  25. Australian Research Council [FT0991022] Funding Source: Australian Research Council
  26. National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia [1069141] Funding Source: NHMRC
  27. Medical Research Council [MR/M012816/1] Funding Source: researchfish

Ask authors/readers for more resources

Shorter telomere length (TL) has found to be associated with lower birth weight and with lower cognitive ability and psychiatric disorders. However, the direction of causation of these associations and the extent to which they are genetically or environmentally mediated are unclear. Within-pair comparisons of monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins can throw light on these questions. We investigated correlations of within pair differences in telomere length, IQ, and anxiety/depression in an initial sample from Brisbane (242 MZ pairs, 245 DZ same sex (DZSS) pairs) and in replication samples from Amsterdam (514 MZ pairs, 233 DZSS pairs) and Melbourne (19 pairs selected for extreme high or low birth weight difference). Intra-pair differences of birth weight and telomere length were significantly correlated in MZ twins, but not in DZSS twins. Greater intra-pair differences of telomere length were observed in the 10% of MZ twins with the greatest difference in birth weight compared to the bottom 90% in both samples and also in the Melbourne sample. Intra-pair differences of telomere length and IQ, but not of TL and anxiety/depression, were correlated in MZ twins, and to a smaller extent in DZSS twins. Our findings suggest that the same prenatal effects that reduce birth weight also influence telomere length in MZ twins. The association between telomere length and IQ is partly driven by the same prenatal effects that decrease birth weight.

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