Age at menarche, Tfh cells and subsequent reproductive performance: a
follow-up and Mendelian Randomization study
Abstract
Objective: The subsequent reproductive events induced by early age at
menarche (AAM) are tightly linked to immune dysfunction. This study
aimed to analyze whether immune functions mediate the association
between AAM and subsequent reproductive performance. Design: a follow-up
and Mendelian Randomization (MR) study. Setting: A women’s and
Children’s hospital in Shenzhen, China. Population: Sixty-eight healthy
reproductive Chinese women were admitted to pre-pregnancy physical
examinations. Methods: Pre-pregnancy immune functions were analyzed by
flow cytometry. Subsequent reproductive performance was studied by a
15-month follow up. The associations of immune functions with AAM or
pregnancy status were analyzed. Lastly, the important association was
further validated by a two-sample MR test using public data. Main
Outcome Measures: Miscarriages, thyroid function at early pregnancy, and
metabolic indexes at mid pregnancy. Results: We found that AAM was
negatively associated with Tfh1/Tfh2 ratio (Spearman r=-0.283, P=0.019).
Moreover, this pre-pregnancy index was positively associated with TSH at
early pregnancy (Spearman r=0.363, P=0.032), a risk for spontaneous
miscarriage (adjusted Relative risk (RR)=12.25, 95% confidence interval
(CI)=1.72-87.46, P=0.013), and a shorter time to miscarriage (42 days
vs. 115 days, log-rank P=0.038). Moreover, the MR test showed that 84
AAM-related SNPs can explain 19% of variance in PD1- naïve Tfh cells
(Directionality P=4.28×10-10); LIN28B and chromosome 9p12 (LINC01505,
TAL2 and TMEM38B) were their share genetic factors. Conclusion: The
present study implied that Tfh cells might mediate the process of early
AAM-induced reproductive events. Larger population studies and
functional studies are warranted. Funding: None.