Preterm birth tied to accelerated ageing

Men who were born preterm appear to age faster than their peers who were delivered at term, according to a study.

Exposure to extremely low birth weight (ELBW; <1,000 g) may predispose survivors to common diseases of ageing. The current study sought to establish whether the severe early life adversity that is ELBW might confer a premature-ageing phenotype.

Researchers drew data from a longitudinally followed cohort of ELBW survivors. They collected buccal cells from 45 ELBW survivors and 49 normal birth weight (NBW; >2,500 g) control participants at 30–35 years of age.

The average of DNA methylation at 353 cytosine-phosphate-guanine sequence within DNA sites was assessed with the Illumina Infinium Human Methylation EPIC 850k BeadChip array. The resulting weighted average was used to calculate epigenetic age.

Results revealed a significant sex by birth weight group interaction in the 353-site epigenetic-clock assay (p=0.03). Specifically, epigenetic age was much higher among ELBW men than NBW men (4.6 years; p=0.01) but was not significantly different between women born at ELBW and their NBW peers.

The sex by birth weight group interaction persisted even after statistically controlling for neurosensory impairment and the presence of chronic health conditions.

The present data suggest that prenatal exposures may be a key factor in ageing. This underscores the need to monitor and promote the health of preterm survivors, with a focus on healthy ageing across the life span.