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Maternal asthma in pregnancy and pubertal timing in daughters and sons: A population-based cohort study
Camilla Lomholt Kjersgaard1, Andreas Ernst2, Sofie Aagaard Sand1
1Department of Public Health, Research Unit for Epidemiology, Aarhus University, Bartholins Allé 2, Aarhus 8000, Denmark.
Insights
Maternal asthma slightly delayed pubertal timing in sons by about one month, but no significant effects were found in daughters. This finding suggests a potential, albeit small, impact of maternal asthma on male pubertal development.
Area of Science:
- Reproductive Endocrinology
- Pediatric Health
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Maternal asthma prevalence is significant, yet its influence on offspring pubertal timing is not well understood.
- Puberty is a critical developmental period sensitive to environmental and maternal health factors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between maternal asthma during pregnancy and the timing of pubertal development in children.
- To explore potential mediating factors such as birth weight and childhood asthma.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from the Danish National Birth Cohort (DNBC) and the Danish National Patient Register.
- Assessed pubertal timing through half-yearly assessments in the Puberty Cohort, covering Tanner Stages for various developmental milestones.
- Employed statistical analyses including adjusted mean age differences, negative control, and mediation analyses.
Main Results:
- Slightly delayed pubertal development observed in sons of mothers with asthma (average 1.0 month difference).
- No significant associations were found for daughters.
- Mediation analyses indicated that birth weight and childhood asthma did not explain the observed association in sons.
Conclusions:
- Maternal asthma during pregnancy is associated with a minor delay in pubertal timing among sons.
- The observed association in sons is not mediated by birth weight or childhood asthma.
- The findings suggest a potential, though possibly weak, link between maternal asthma and male pubertal development, warranting further investigation.
Purpose:
We investigated the impact of maternal asthma on children's pubertal timing as it remains underexplored.
Methods:
The Danish National Birth Cohort (DNBC) provided information on maternal asthma during pregnancy, supplemented with diagnosis codes from the Danish National Patient Register. The DNBC sub-cohort the Puberty Cohort gave half-yearly information on pubertal timing from 11 years. We estimated adjusted mean age differences in months for reaching Tanner Stages 1-5 for breast, genital and pubic hair development, axillary hair, acne, and voice break, and menarche for daughters, and first ejaculation for sons. Further, a negative control analysis explored confounding, and two mediation analyses explored mediation through birthweight and childhood asthma.
Results:
In total, 15,819 children and their mothers participated and 6.6 % of the children had mothers with asthma. Results indicated slightly later pubertal development in sons of mothers with asthma (average difference: 1.0 months (95 % confidence intervals -0.4, 2.4)). This association was not mediated by birthweight or childhood asthma. We did not observe any associations among daughters. The negative control analysis suggested some confounding towards the null.
Conclusion:
Sons of mothers with asthma during pregnancy had slightly later pubertal timing, though the result could also indicate no association.
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