Pediatric-Onset MS and Telomere Length: Can MS Affect Biological Aging?

Pediatric onset multiple sclerosis (POMS) may accelerate the biological aging process, contributing to worsening clinical disability, according to study results presented at the Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ACTRIMS) Forum 2025, held in West Palm Beach, Florida from February 27 to March 1.

Telomere length has been acknowledged as a reliable method for determining biological age. Shorter telomere lengths indicate increased biological age because the more a cell divides, the shorter the telomeres at the end of chromosomes become. Although accelerated biological aging has not been associated with increased multiple sclerosis (MS) relapse rates, it has been associated with increased clinical disability among adults with MS, suggestive of more progressive disease courses.

A team of researchers conducted a multicenter cross-sectional pediatric case control study in the United States, comparing DNA extracted from whole blood samples of 300 children affected by POMS to samples obtained from 200 age-matched children without POMS.

The objective of this study was to assess whether MS pathological processes contributed to premature biological aging by measuring and analyzing telomere length.

The researchers used real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing to measure telomere length consisting of repetitive DNA sequences at the ends of chromosomes relative to a single copy gene as a point of reference. This comparison was expressed as a telomere to somatic DNA ratio (T/S ratio).

In this study, the researchers observed significant differences between children with vs without POMS, including mean body mass index (BMI; 25.8 vs 22.2; P <.001) and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity (25% of cases vs 4%; P <.001). Prior to adjusting for these significantly different variables, the mean T/S ratio among the children with POMS averaged 1.66 while the mean T/S ratio among the control participants averaged 1.71 (mean difference of -.05; 95% CI, -.10 to .01; P =.08).

However, after adjusting for confounding factors, such as chronological age, sex, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, exposure to tobacco, and BMI, the analysis indicated that the mean T/S ratio among children with POMS was 0.083 shorter compared to the control participants (P =.048), showing a significant difference between the 2 groups.

“Participants with POMS had shorter telomere lengths compared to age-similar controls in a multivariable model adjusting for sociodemographic variables,” the researchers wrote. They added, “These results suggest that the MS disease process may contribute to accelerated biological aging.”