Table I.

Correlation of telomere length and telomerase activity with pregnancy complications.

Telomerase activity and telomere length	Pregnancy complications
Decreased telomerase activity and telomere length is reduced	Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR)
Higher telomerase activity in the larger twin than the smaller twin	Growth discordant twins
Increased telomerase activity	Hypoxia
Absence of telomerase results in aberrant fertilization	In vivo and in vitro fertilization treatment
Decreased telomerase activity could be expected	Stress exposure in intrauterine life
Low protein diet during gestation leads to fewer large telomeres and more short telomeres	Maternal nutrition
Increased telomerase activity and no differences in fetal telomere length between normal pregnancy and gestational hypertension	Hypertensive disorders
Increased telomerase activity but fetal telomere length is shorter in gestational diabetes than that of normal pregnancy	Gestational diabetes or diabetes