Association between maternal urinary selenium during pregnancy and newborn telomere length: results from a birth cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Newborn telomere length is considered as an effective predictor of lifespan and health outcomes in later life. Selenium is an essential trace element for human health, and its antioxidation is of great significance for the prevention of telomere erosion. METHODS: We recruited 746 mother-newborn pairs in Wuhan Children's Hospital between 2013 and 2015. Urine samples were repeatedly collected at three time points during pregnancy, and umbilical cord blood samples were collected right after parturition. Urinary selenium concentration was detected using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and newborn telomere length was measured using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. We applied general estimating equations to examine the trimester-specific association between maternal urinary selenium during pregnancy and newborn telomere length. RESULTS: The median of creatinine-corrected selenium concentrations during pregnancy were 16.29, 18.08, and 18.35 µg/g·creatinine in the first, second, and third trimesters, respectively. Selenium concentrations in all the three trimesters were significantly associated with newborn telomere length. Per doubling of maternal urinary selenium concentrations was associated with 6.44% (95% CI: 0.92, 12.25), 6.54% (95% CI: 0.17, 13.31), and 6.02% (95% CI: 0.29, 12.09) longer newborn telomere length in the first, second, and third trimesters, respectively, after adjusting for potential confounders. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to provide evidence for the effect of maternal selenium levels on fetal telomere erosion. Findings from our study suggested that maternal urinary selenium was positively associated with newborn telomere length, indicating that intrauterine selenium exposure might have effect on initial setting of human telomere length.

Complete plastome sequence of Aspidopterys obcordata (Malpighiaceae), a traditional Dai medicinal plant from Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China.

We reported the first complete plastid genome of Aspidopterys (Malpighiaceae) in this study. The complete plastome of Aspidopterys obcordata is 160,453 bp in length with a base composition of A (31.4%), G (18.5%), C (18.2%), and T (32.0%). Structurally, the genome contains two short inverted repeats (26,905 bp for each), which are separated by a large single copy region (88,491 bp) and a small single copy region (18,152 bp). The plastome contained 113 unique genes, including 79 protein-coding genes, 30 transfer RNAs, and 4 ribosomal RNAs. Phylogenetic analyses showed that A. obcordata was sister to Bunchosia argentea in the monophyletic Malpighiaceae. This study provided a high-quality plastome sequence for future studies in Aspidopterys, as well as Malpighiaceae.