'Stressed' kids from poor backgrounds have shorter strands of DNA

Researchers have said that kids who experience chronic stress from a disadvantaged life have shorter telomeres than their advantaged peers.

The detrimental health effects of long-term chronic stress may be related to the shortening of telomeres, which are DNA sequences at the ends of chromosomes. Individuals who experience chronic stress, such as that derived from living in a disadvantaged environment, experience accelerated telomere shortening, which may be linked to adverse health outcomes.

Daniel Notterman and colleagues examined genetic information from 40 nine-year-old African-American boys that included telomere length. The authors report that boys from disadvantaged environments displayed shorter telomeres than boys from advantaged environments.

Further, the authors found that the effect of environment on telomere length was mediated by genes involved in dopamine and serotonin function. For boys with high genetic sensitivity to these neurotransmitter pathways, those from disadvantaged environments displayed the shortest telomeres, and those from advantaged environments displayed the longest telomeres.

The results suggest a link between genetic factors and social environment associated with changing telomere length, and suggests a potential biomarker for chronic stress exposure in children as young as 9 years of age, according to the authors.