Maternal cigarette smoking during pregnancy and pubertal development in sons. A follow-up study of a birth cohort

Epidemiological studies have raised concern about the reproductive consequences of prenatal cigarette smoking exposure, possibly affecting semen quality and onset of pubertal development of the offspring. The aim of this study was to further investigate pubertal development in young men exposed to cigarette smoking in foetal life. In a Danish pregnancy cohort, information on maternal smoking during pregnancy was available from questionnaires administered in 1984-1987, and information on pubertal development, assessed by age at first nocturnal emission, acne, voice break and regular shaving, was obtained from a follow-up questionnaire administered in 2005 to the young men (age: 18-21). We found no significant association between prenatal cigarette smoking exposure and earlier onset of puberty, but we did observe a tendency towards earlier age of first nocturnal emission, acne and voice break, indicating an accelerated age of pubertal development. Men exposed to ≥15 cigarettes/day had 3.1 months (95% CI: -6.4; 0.2) earlier age at acne and 2.2 months (95% CI: -7.3; 3.0) earlier age at first nocturnal emission, 1.2 months (95% CI: -4.6; 2.2) earlier age at voice break, however, 1.3 months (95% CI: -1.6; 4.3) later age at regular shaving, compared with unexposed men. Prenatal cigarette smoking exposure may induce an earlier age at onset of puberty in young men, but larger studies with prospectively collected data on pubertal development are needed to explore this hypothesis further.