ABSTRACT
Context: Adolescents and young women (AYA) with type 1 diabetes (T1D) may require hormonal contraception for an extended period. However, it is unclear what effect hormonal contraception has on telomere length, a marker of the risk for complications. Objective: To investigate the relative telomere length (RTL) in AYA with T1D (AYA-T1D) and healthy young women (AYA-C) after 18 months of combined oral contraception use (COC) with ethinyl estradiol/desogestrel, or a subdermal etonogestrel implant (IM). Methods: A nonrandomized prospective study was performed in which 39 AYA-T1D and 40 AYA-C chose the COC or the IM. RTL was measured by monochrome multiplex-quantitative PCR in DNA from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). The impact of contraceptives and clinical variables on RTL was assessed using lineal regression analysis. Results: Longer RTL compared to baseline was observed in AYA-T1D (P < .05) and AYA-C (P < .01) after using the IM. However, the total of AYA and the AYA-C group treated with COC decreased RTL after 18 months of treatment compared to baseline (P < .05). The type of contraceptive used was determinant for the changes in RTL compared to baseline in all subjects and controls (P ≤ .006). For AYA-T1D, HbA1c levels were not associated with RTL, but the high-sensitivity C-reactive protein was negatively related with the changes in RTL at 18 months compared to baseline (standardized R2 : 0.230, P = .003). Conclusion: IM was associated with longer RTL in AYA-T1D and AYA-C. In contrast, a shortening of telomere length in PBMC was observed after using COC.