Department of Endocrinology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
Eur J Clin Nutr. 2012 Feb;66(2):231-6. doi: 10.1038/ejcn.2011.161. Epub 2011 Oct 5.
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: To determine whether exposure to the Chinese famine during fetal life and early childhood was associated with a greater risk of metabolic syndrome in later life.
SUBJECTS/METHODS: We used data of adults from the 2008 annual physical examinations in Public Health Center of the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University in Chongqing. To minimize misclassification of the famine exposure periods, subjects born in 1959 and 1962 were excluded. Totally, 5040 participants were enrolled and categorized into control (1963-1964), fetally exposed (1960-1961) and postnatally exposed (1957-1958) group. We adopted the definition of metabolic syndrome recommended by the Chinese Diabetes Society in 2004.
Women in fetally and postnatally exposed groups had significantly higher prevalences of metabolic syndrome than in control group (7.3% and 8.6% vs 4.0%, P<0.05, respectively). Women in fetally and postnatally exposed groups had a significantly higher risk of metabolic syndrome, as compared with control women (odds ratio (OR) 1.87 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.15-3.04, P=0.012), OR 1.50 (95% CI 1.20-1.87, P=0.0003), respectively). Similar association was not observed among men. The prevalences of metabolic syndrome among men in control, fetally and postnatally exposed groups were 20.1%, 22.5% and 18.8%, respectively, but there was no significant difference of prevalences among the three groups.
We found that exposure to the Chinese famine in early life period was associated with higher risk of metabolic syndrome in adulthood of women, but not men. This gender difference might be due to the mortality selection and son preference hypothesis.
背景/目的：确定胎儿期和幼儿期暴露于中国饥荒是否与晚年患代谢综合征的风险增加有关。
研究对象/方法：我们使用了来自重庆医科大学第一附属医院公共卫生中心 2008 年年度体检的成年人数据。为了尽量减少饥荒暴露期的分类错误，排除了 1959 年和 1962 年出生的受试者。总共纳入了 5040 名参与者，并分为对照组（1963-1964 年）、胎儿期暴露组（1960-1961 年）和产后暴露组（1957-1958 年）。我们采用了中国糖尿病协会 2004 年推荐的代谢综合征定义。
胎儿期和产后暴露组的女性患代谢综合征的比例明显高于对照组（分别为 7.3%和 8.6%比 4.0%，P<0.05）。与对照组女性相比，胎儿期和产后暴露组的女性患代谢综合征的风险显著增加（比值比（OR）为 1.87（95%置信区间（CI）为 1.15-3.04，P=0.012），OR 为 1.50（95% CI 为 1.20-1.87，P=0.0003））。在男性中未观察到类似的关联。对照组、胎儿期暴露组和产后暴露组男性的代谢综合征患病率分别为 20.1%、22.5%和 18.8%，但三组之间的患病率无显著差异。
我们发现，生命早期暴露于中国饥荒与女性成年后患代谢综合征的风险增加有关，但与男性无关。这种性别差异可能归因于死亡率选择和儿子偏好假说。
