Association between leg length and offspring birthweight: partial explanation for the trans-generational association between birthweight and cardiovascular disease: findings from the British Women's Heart and Health Study
Association between leg length and offspring birthweight: partial explanation for the trans-generational association between birthweight and cardiovascular disease: findings from the British Women's Heart and Health Study
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DOI：
10.1046/j.1365-3016.2003.00479.x
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发表时间：
2003-04-01
影响因子：
2.8
通讯作者：
Ebrahim, S
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Lawlor, DA;Smith, GD;Ebrahim, S
低出生体重个体不仅自身心血管疾病的风险增加，而且其父母的心血管疾病风险也增加。这些跨代关联背后的机制尚未得到充分理解。我们假设，在某种程度上，它们反映了幼儿期不良母亲环境的跨代影响。在母亲生命的早期，不利的环境因素不仅会影响她自己患心血管疾病的倾向，而且还会给她的后代带来不利的后果-出生体重低和晚年患心血管疾病的风险增加。成人腿长是早期生活环境的有效指标，特别是婴儿营养。如果我们的假设是正确的，那么成年人的腿长应该与后代的出生体重呈正相关。在这项研究中，从英格兰、苏格兰和威尔士的23个城镇随机选择了4286名年龄在60-79岁之间的妇女，腿长和后代出生体重之间的关联程度大于躯干长度和后代出生体重之间的关联程度。在控制潜在混杂因素后，母体腿长每增加一个标准差，后代出生体重增加89.8 g [95%置信区间66.1，113.5 g]，母体躯干长每增加一个标准差，后代出生体重增加55.2 g [32.2，78.1 g]。腿长和后代出生体重之间的关联不受母体出生体重调整的影响，但躯干长度和后代出生体重之间的关联减弱至38.0 g [1.0，74.9 g]。这些研究结果支持了这一假设，即不利的幼儿环境条件不仅影响生命力和健康的妇女在以后的生活，但也出生体重的她的后代，并建议，出生体重和心血管疾病之间的跨代关联的部分原因是由幼儿母亲的环境情况。
Low birthweight individuals not only have increased risk of cardiovascular disease themselves, but cardiovascular disease risk is also increased in their parents. The mechanisms underlying these trans-generational associations are not fully understood. We hypothesise that, in part, they reflect the trans-generational effects of poor maternal environmental circumstances in early childhood. Adverse environmental factors acting early in the mother's life will not only influence her own predisposition to cardiovascular disease but will also result in adverse consequences - low birthweight and increased cardiovascular disease risk in later life - for her offspring. Adult leg length is a valid indicator of early life environmental circumstances, in particular of infant nutrition. If our hypothesis is correct, then adult leg length should be positively associated with offspring birthweight. In this study of 4286 randomly selected women aged 60-79 years from 23 towns across England, Scotland and Wales, the magnitude of the association between leg length and offspring birthweight was greater than the association between trunk length and offspring birthweight. After control for potential confounding factors, offspring birthweight increased by 89.8 g [95% confidence interval 66.1, 113.5 g] for each standard deviation increase in maternal leg length, and by 55.2 g [32.2, 78.1 g] for each standard deviation increase in maternal trunk length. The association between leg length and offspring birthweight was unaffected by adjustment for maternal birthweight, but the association between trunk length and offspring birthweight was attenuated to 38.0 g [1.0, 74.9 g]. These findings support the hypothesis that adverse early childhood environmental circumstances affect not only the vitality and health of the woman in later life but also the birthweight of her offspring, and suggest that the trans-generational association between birthweight and cardiovascular disease is in part explained by early childhood maternal environmental circumstances.