Abstract
Telomere and telomerase genes (TERC and TERT) highlighted many novel genetic polymorphisms related to common diseases. This study explored the polymorphic alleles of TERC and TERT gene in parents-newborn (triad) and its association with telomere length (TL) and parental diseases (mother: Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM), Preeclampsia, fathers: Diabetes, Hypertension). In this cross-sectional study, the blood samples (n = 612) were collected from parents-newborn triad (204 each) for TL (T/S ratio) quantification by using qPCR, and gene (TERC and TERT) polymorphism was detected by Sanger sequencing. The correlation analysis was used to find an association between paternal TL (T/S ratio) and newborn TL. The multivariate linear regression was applied to determine the effect of parents genes and diseases on newborn TL. A positive association (r = 0.42,0.39) (p < 0.0001) among parents and newborn TL was observed. In the diseased group, both TERC (rs10936599) and TERT (rs2736100) genes had a high frequency of allele C in newborns (OR = 0.94, P = 0.90, OR = 4.24, P = 0.012). However, among parents, TERT gene [Mother CC (B = 0.575; P = 0.196), Father CC (B = -0.739; P = 0.071)] was found significant contributing factor for Newborn TL. Diseased parents with T/T and A/C genotypes had longer newborn TL (2.82 ± 2.43, p < 0.022; 1.80 ± 1.20, p < 0.00) than the C/C genotype. Therefore, the study, confirmed that major allele C of TERC and TERT genes is associated with smaller TL in diseased parents-newborns of the targeted population.