Ageing begins in the womb, a new study found. Findings also showed that taking antioxidants during pregnancy can help offspring to age slower during adulthood.

The University of Cambridge led an international research team to analyze fetal development and pregnancy using mice subjects.

A person's DNA is etched onto chromosomes. The ends of each one are called telomeres and they are likened to the plastic caps that secure the ends of shoelaces. The study used telomeres as a metric for aging, as these DNA segments are known to get shorter as an individual ages.

Researchers found that the children of mothers who had low oxygen levels in the womb aged faster during adulthood. Lower oxygen levels are often caused by experiencing preeclampsia, being at high altitudes or smoking.

In the mice study, the researchers placed the pregnant subjects in a room with 7 percent less oxygen compared to normal. They found that the offspring of these mother rats had shorter telomeres compared to rats born from mothers who didn't have complicated pregnancies.

The rats with shorter telomeres also had problems with their blood vessels' inner lining. This suggested that they were inclined to develop heart diseases earlier than the control group.

When the pregnant mice were given antioxidants, the heart disease risks among the offspring lowered. On the other hand, when the uncomplicated pregnancy mothers were given antioxidants, their offspring profited as well and had longer telomeres compared to the other group.

Past studies already showed that different factors such as lack of exercise, obesity, smoking and even parents' age can affect an offspring's genes and risks for heart disease. The new study showed that the womb environment fetuses are exposed to already affects the risk for developing heart disease later in life.

"Antioxidants are known to reduce ageing, but here, we show for the first time that giving them to pregnant mothers can slow down the ageing clock of their offspring," said first author Dr. Beth Allison.

While the study used mice models, the findings suggested a method that allows experts to treat the same problems in humans. The research was funded by the British Heart Foundation. The findings were published in The FASEB Journal on March 1.

Photo : Javier Ignacio Acuña Ditzel | Flickr