Telomere length in newborn, ‘small-for-gestational-age’ dairy calves
Abstract
In human medicine, both telomere length (TL) and small birth size have been linked to an increased disease risk later in life, although there are conflicting data linking size and TL at birth. The aim of this study in neonatal dairy heifers was to explore whether birth size was associated with TL at birth, and, if so, whether this relationship was also associated with the animals’ lifespan (the animals were followed up over a period of six years and nine months). In this study, there was no association between TL at birth and the birth size category. However, small-forgestational- age dairy calves tended to have a reduced lifespan compared to their average, forgestational- age counterparts. These findings suggest that fetal growth may not impact telomere biology directly. More research is warranted to understand early life TL dynamics and its effects on dairy cattle longevity.
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