Maternal Oxidative Stress Biomarkers in Pregnancy and Child Growth from Birth to Age 6

Olufunmilayo Arogbokun, Emma Rosen, Alexander P. Keil, Ginger L. Milne, Emily Barrett, Ruby Nguyen, Nicole R. Bush, Shanna H. Swan, Sheela Sathyanarayana, Kelly K. Ferguson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

23 Scopus citations

Abstract

CONTEXT: Maternal oxidative stress in pregnancy can arise through a multitude of sources and may have lifelong consequences for the child. Animal studies suggest that prenatal oxidative stress may contribute to metabolic dysfunction and excessive weight gain in the offspring. However, this relationship has been studied minimally in humans.

OBJECTIVE: Determine the association between prenatal oxidative stress biomarkers and child weight and body mass index (BMI) z-scores from birth to age 6.

METHODS: Within The Infant Development and the Environment Study (TIDES) prospective pregnancy cohort, we calculated age- and sex-specific Z-scores for child weight and BMI, measured between birth and age 6 (N = 736). Three oxidative stress biomarkers were quantified in third-trimester urine, including 8-iso-prostaglandin F2α (8-iso-PGF2α), its primary metabolite, and prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α). We examined associations between each biomarker and Z-scores using linear regression as well as group-based trajectory modeling.

RESULTS: Prenatal 8-iso-PGF2α and its metabolite were associated with lower birth weight and higher weight at age 4. For example, an ln-unit increase in 8-iso-PGF2α was associated with 0.17 SD higher weight at age 4 (95% CI 0.01, 0.33). These biomarkers were also associated with higher BMI at age 4. Finally, within 4 unique weight trajectories (low, normal, high, and low-high), children of mothers with higher 8-iso-PGF2α were 2.56 times more likely (95% CI 1.22, 5.41) to be in the low-high trajectory than children in the normal group.

CONCLUSION: We observed associations between third-trimester oxidative stress and lower birth weight as well as higher early childhood weight and BMI. These findings have important implications for understanding the developmental origins of childhood weight gain and metabolic disease.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1427-1436
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism
Volume106
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 23 2021

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Endocrine Society 2021.

Keywords

  • childhood
  • developmental origins of health and disease
  • oxidative stress
  • pregnancy
  • trajectory
  • weight
  • Oxidative Stress/physiology
  • United States
  • Humans
  • Child, Preschool
  • Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects/blood
  • Infant
  • Male
  • Pregnancy/blood
  • Mothers
  • Adult
  • Biomarkers/blood
  • Female
  • Body-Weight Trajectory
  • Child
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Child Development/physiology
  • Oxidation-Reduction
  • Pregnancy Trimester, First/blood
  • Cohort Studies

PubMed: MeSH publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Intramural
  • Journal Article
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

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