0000000000205845

AUTHOR

Hazel Inskip

Maternal complications in pregnancy and wheezing in early childhood: a pooled analysis of 14 birth cohorts

Background: Evidence on the effect of maternal complications in pregnancy on wheezing in offspring is still insufficient. Methods: A pooled analysis was performed on individual participant data from fourteen European birth cohorts to assess the relationship between several maternal pregnancy complications and wheezing symptoms in the offspring. Exposures of interest included hypertension and preeclampsia, diabetes, as well as pre-pregnancy overweight (body mass index between 25 and 29.9) and obesity (body mass index >= 30) compared with normal weight (body mass index between 18.5 and 24.9). Outcomes included both ever and recurrent wheezing from birth up to 12-24 months of age. Cohort-speci…

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Association of Gestational Weight Gain With Adverse Maternal and Infant Outcomes

Importance: Both low and high gestational weight gain have been associated with adverse maternal and infant outcomes, but optimal gestational weight gain remains uncertain and not well defined for all prepregnancy weight ranges. Objectives: To examine the association of ranges of gestational weight gain with risk of adverse maternal and infant outcomes and estimate optimal gestational weight gain ranges across prepregnancy body mass index categories. Design, setting, and participants: Individual participant-level meta-analysis using data from 196 670 participants within 25 cohort studies from Europe and North America (main study sample). Optimal gestational weight gain ranges were estimated…

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Association of Birth Weight With Type 2 Diabetes and Glycemic Traits: A Mendelian Randomization Study.

Key Points Question Is birth weight associated with type 2 diabetes and glycemic traits? Findings This mendelian randomization study found that a 1-SD decrease in birth weight due to the genetic risk score was associated with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes among European and East Asian populations. In addition, a 1-SD decrease in birth weight was associated with a 0.189-SD increase in fasting glucose concentration, but not with fasting insulin, 2-hour glucose, or hemoglobin A1c level. Meaning A genetic predisposition to lower birth weight was associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes and increased fasting glucose, suggesting potential mechanisms through which perturbation of th…

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Does early onset asthma increase childhood obesity risk? A pooled analysis of 16 European cohorts

The parallel epidemics of childhood asthma and obesity over the past few decades have spurred research into obesity as a risk factor for asthma. However, little is known regarding the role of asthma in obesity incidence. We examined whether early-onset asthma and related phenotypes are associated with the risk of developing obesity in childhood.This study includes 21 130 children born from 1990 to 2008 in Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the UK. We followed non-obese children at 3-4 years of age for incident obesity up to 8 years of age. Physician-diagnosed asthma, wheezing and allergic rhinitis were assessed up to 3-4 years of age.Children with ph…

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Maternal and fetal genetic effects on birth weight and their relevance to cardio-metabolic risk factors

AbstractBirth weight (BW) variation is influenced by fetal and maternal genetic and non-genetic factors, and has been reproducibly associated with future cardio-metabolic health outcomes. These associations have been proposed to reflect the lifelong consequences of an adverse intrauterine environment. In earlier work, we demonstrated that much of the negative correlation between BW and adult cardio-metabolic traits could instead be attributable to shared genetic effects. However, that work and other previous studies did not systematically distinguish the direct effects of an individual’s own genotype on BW and subsequent disease risk from indirect effects of their mother’s correlated genoty…

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Impact of maternal body mass index and gestational weight gain on pregnancy complications: an individual participant data meta-analysis of European, North American and Australian cohorts

ObjectiveTo assess the separate and combined associations of maternal pre‐pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and gestational weight gain with the risks of pregnancy complications and their population impact.DesignIndividual participant data meta‐analysis of 39 cohorts.SettingEurope, North America, and Oceania.Population265 270 births.MethodsInformation on maternal pre‐pregnancy BMI, gestational weight gain, and pregnancy complications was obtained. Multilevel binary logistic regression models were used.Main outcome measuresGestational hypertension, pre‐eclampsia, gestational diabetes, preterm birth, small and large for gestational age at birth.ResultsHigher maternal pre‐pregnancy BMI and gesta…

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Fish and seafood consumption during pregnancy and the risk of asthma and allergic rhinitis in childhood

Background: It has been suggested that prenatal exposure to n-3 long-chain fatty acids protects against asthma and other allergy-related diseases later in childhood. The extent to which fish intake in pregnancy protects against child asthma and rhinitis symptoms remains unclear. We aimed to assess whether fish and seafood consumption in pregnancy is associated with childhood wheeze, asthma and allergic rhinitis. Methods: We pooled individual data from 60 774 mother-child pairs participating in 18 European and US birth cohort studies. Information on wheeze, asthma and allergic rhinitis prevalence was collected using validated questionnaires. The time periods of interest were: infancy (0-2 ye…

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Changes in parental smoking during pregnancy and risks of adverse birth outcomes and childhood overweight in Europe and North America

Background Fetal smoke exposure is a common and key avoidable risk factor for birth complications and seems to influence later risk of overweight. It is unclear whether this increased risk is also present if mothers smoke during the first trimester only or reduce the number of cigarettes during pregnancy, or when only fathers smoke. We aimed to assess the associations of parental smoking during pregnancy, specifically of quitting or reducing smoking and maternal and paternal smoking combined, with preterm birth, small size for gestational age, and childhood overweight. Methods and findings We performed an individual participant data meta-analysis among 229,158 families from 28 pregnancy/bir…

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Maternal body mass index, gestational weight gain, and the risk of overweight and obesity across childhood: An individual participant data meta-analysis

Background Maternal obesity and excessive gestational weight gain may have persistent effects on offspring fat development. However, it remains unclear whether these effects differ by severity of obesity, and whether these effects are restricted to the extremes of maternal body mass index (BMI) and gestational weight gain. We aimed to assess the separate and combined associations of maternal BMI and gestational weight gain with the risk of overweight/obesity throughout childhood, and their population impact. Methods and findings We conducted an individual participant data meta-analysis of data from 162,129 mothers and their children from 37 pregnancy and birth cohort studies from Europe, No…

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Maternal and fetal genetic contribution to gestational weight gain

Background: Clinical recommendations to limit gestational weight gain (GWG) imply high GWG is causally related to adverse outcomes in mother or offspring, but GWG is the sum of several inter-related complex phenotypes (maternal fat deposition and vascular expansion, placenta, amniotic fluid and fetal growth). Understanding the genetic contribution to GWG could help clarify the potential effect of its different components on maternal and offspring health. Here we explore the genetic contribution to total, early and late GWG. Participants and methods: A genome-wide association study was used to identify maternal and fetal variants contributing to GWG in up to 10 543 mothers and 16 317 offspri…

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