{"id":118897,"date":"2026-09-11T21:49:31","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T19:49:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nilu.gnist.dev\/publikasjoner\/perfluorinated-substances-and-telomeres-in-an-arctic-seabird-cross-sectional-and-longitudinal-approaches\/"},"modified":"2026-09-11T21:49:31","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T19:49:31","slug":"perfluorinated-substances-and-telomeres-in-an-arctic-seabird-cross-sectional-and-longitudinal-approaches","status":"publish","type":"nva_publication","link":"https:\/\/nilu.gnist.dev\/en\/publications\/perfluorinated-substances-and-telomeres-in-an-arctic-seabird-cross-sectional-and-longitudinal-approaches\/","title":{"rendered":"Perfluorinated substances and telomeres in an Arctic seabird: Cross-sectional and longitudinal approaches"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Telomeres are non-coding DNA repeats located at the termini of eukaryotic chromosomes, regulated by<br \/>\ndynamic processes balancing shortening and maintenance. Despite a mechanism to slow-down telomere<br \/>\nshortening, cell division leads to progressive attrition of chromosomes, leading to the onset of cellular<br \/>\nsenescence or apoptosis. However, telomere restoration based on telomerase activity is the primary<br \/>\nmechanism for telomere maintenance. Telomere length is associated to health and survival and can be<br \/>\nimpacted by a broad panel of environmental factors. However, the effect of contaminants on telomeres is<br \/>\npoorly known for living organisms. The aim of this study was to investigate relationships between some<br \/>\npoly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), body condition and telomere length by using both a crosssectional<br \/>\nand longitudinal approach in adult breeding Black-legged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla) from<br \/>\nSvalbard. First, we examined the associations between absolute telomere length and PFASs contamination<br \/>\nin a given year (cross-sectional approach). Second, we investigated the relationships between<br \/>\ntelomere dynamics and PFASs contamination within a two years\u2019 time frame (longitudinal approach).<br \/>\nOur results did not show any significant relationships of PFASs and body condition with absolute telomere<br \/>\nlength in a given year. Surprisingly, we found a positive and significant relationship between PFASs<br \/>\nand telomere dynamics in both sexes with elongated telomere in birds bearing the highest concentrations<br \/>\nof PFASs. Our study underlines (i) the need to investigate PFAS effects on telomere dynamics with a<br \/>\nlongitudinal approach and (ii) a potential positive effect of these contaminants on telomere length, with<br \/>\nthe most contaminated birds showing the slowest rate of telomere shortening or even displaying<br \/>\nelongated ones. Our study is the first to report a relationship between PFASs and telomere length in freeliving<br \/>\nvertebrates. A possible underlying mechanism and other potential confounding factors are<br \/>\ndiscussed.<br \/>\nOrganic contaminants<br \/>\nPFASs<br \/>\nBlack-legged kittiwake<br \/>\nSvalbard<br \/>\nDNA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","_id":"","_status":"PUBLISHED","_sync_date":"2026-09-11 14:48:34","footnotes":""},"nva_tax_category":[1099],"class_list":["post-118897","nva_publication","type-nva_publication","status-publish","hentry","nva_tax_category-scientific-journal-publication"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nilu.gnist.dev\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/nva_publication\/118897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nilu.gnist.dev\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/nva_publication"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nilu.gnist.dev\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/nva_publication"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nilu.gnist.dev\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/nva_publication\/118897\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nilu.gnist.dev\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"nva_tax_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nilu.gnist.dev\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/nva_tax_category?post=118897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}