. 2020 Mar 13;88(6):903–909. doi: 10.1038/s41390-020-0833-6

Table 2.

Relative telomere length (RTL) and telomere attrition rate in longitudinal samples from birth and follow-up at 2 years of age in preterm and term born infants.

	Preterm, n = 16	Term, n = 44
RTL at partus
All	1.76 ± 0.1^a	1.64 ± 0.2^a
Male	1.74 ± 0.1	1.66 ± 0.2
Female	1.80 ± 0.1^a	1.61 ± 0.2^a
RTL at 2 years of age
All	1.73 ± 0.2^b	1.50 ± 0.3^b
Male	1.76 ± 0.2^b	1.45 ± 0.3^b
Female	1.70 ± 0.3	1.57 ± 0.3
RTL attrition rate/year^c
All	−0.02 ± 0.1	−0.08 ± 0.2
Male	0.01 ± 0.06^b	−0.12 ± 0.2^b
Female	−0.05 ± 0.14	−0.02 ± 0.15

Mean values ± SD.

^aSignificance level p < 0.05.

^bSignificance level p < 0.01.

^cRTL attrition rate = (RTL at follow-up − RTL at birth)/(chronological age at follow-up in years).