Associations between birth parameters and skin autofluorescence advanced glycation end products and ankle-brachial
Shantanu Sharma1, Johannes Sperling1,2, Amra Jujic1
1Department of Clinical Sciences, Malmö, Lund University, Skåne University Hospital, Malmö.
Insights
Low birth weight is linked to lower ankle-brachial index (ABI) and advanced glycation end-products (AGE) in adulthood. These findings suggest early life factors influence later cardiovascular disease risk through these markers.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular epidemiology
- Metabolic health
- Developmental origins of health and disease
Background:
- Low birth weight (LBW), advanced glycation end-products (AGE), and ankle-brachial index (ABI) are independently linked to cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk.
- Limited evidence exists on how LBW affects adult AGE and ABI, key markers of glucose metabolism and peripheral atherosclerosis, respectively.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the associations between birth weight and adult levels of AGE and ABI.
- To explore potential mediating pathways for early life factors influencing long-term CVD risk.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from the Malmö Offspring Study (n=2012), linking participants to the Medical Birth Register.
- Employed general linear regression to analyze associations between birth weight and skin auto-fluorescence (sf)AGE and mean ABI, with adjustments for multiple confounders.
Main Results:
- A 1 kg increase in birth weight was associated with a 0.054 decrease in sfAGE and a 0.016 decrease in mean ABI, after adjusting for gestational age and sex.
- The association between birth weight and sfAGE was attenuated after further confounder adjustment, while the inverse association with ABI persisted.
Conclusions:
- Adjusted birth weight is inversely associated with ABI in young adults, potentially reflecting hemodynamic changes.
- These findings suggest that birth weight may influence cardiovascular risk through mediating pathways involving AGE and ABI, highlighting the importance of early life factors.
Background:
Low birth weight (LBW), advanced glycation end-products (AGE), and ankle-brachial index (ABI) have all been independently associated with risk of cardiovascular disease. Evidence is lacking on the effect of LBW on adult AGE, a marker of glucose metabolism, and ABI, a marker of peripheral atherosclerosis. The objective was to study these associations in a population-based cohort.
Methods:
Data from the Malmö Offspring Study, Sweden, were used for 2012 participants (958 men, 1054 women) born between 1973 and 2000, linked to the Medical Birth Register. General linear regression analysis (with β coefficients and 95% confidence intervals) was applied for associations between birth weight and skin auto-fluorescence (sf)AGE as well as mean ABI (right/left), before and after adjusting for gestational age, sex, glucose, lipids, smoking, BMI and SBP.
Results:
The mean (SD) age of men was 29.3 (7.3) and of women 28.6 (7.3) years. There was an average 0.054 decrease in sfAGE value per 1 kg increase in birth weight (adjusted for gestational age and sex). Similarly, 1 kg increase in birth weight (adjusted for gestational age and confounders) was associated with an average 0.016 decrease in mean ABI.
Conclusion:
Birth weight, adjusted for gestational age and other confounding variables, is inversely associated with ABI in young adulthood, an age range when ABI may represent hemodynamic changes more than atherosclerosis, but for sfAGE, the association was attenuated upon further adjustment. These risk markers may, therefore, represent mediating pathways for early life factors affecting cardiovascular risk later in life.
