Maternal Testosterone and Offspring Birth Weight: A Mendelian Randomization Study
Bing-Kun Zheng1, Xue-Yi Sun2, Jie Xian1
1Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450000, China.
The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism
|June 27, 2022
Summary
Higher maternal testosterone in females is linked to lower offspring birth weight and increased preterm delivery risk. This Mendelian randomization study clarifies the causal relationship between maternal androgens and pregnancy outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Reproductive endocrinology and genetics.
- Maternal-fetal medicine and developmental origins of health and disease.
Background:
- Maternal androgen levels are inversely associated with offspring birth weight.
- Understanding the causal link between maternal testosterone and pregnancy outcomes is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the causal effect of maternal testosterone levels on offspring birth weight.
- To examine the association between maternal testosterone and preterm delivery risk.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) approach.
- Employed genetic instruments from large-scale genome-wide association studies (UK Biobank, FinnGen).
- Analyzed summary-level data for birth weight and preterm delivery.
Main Results:
- Increased maternal testosterone levels were associated with reduced offspring birth weight (37.26 g per SD increase).
- Higher maternal testosterone levels correlated with an increased risk of preterm delivery (OR 1.329).
- Results were consistent across different MR analyses.
Conclusions:
- Genetically determined higher maternal testosterone in the general population is causally linked to lower offspring birth weight.
- Higher maternal testosterone levels are associated with an increased risk of preterm delivery.
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