Department of child and adolescent health, School of Public Health, Bengbu Medical College, Bengbu, China.
Hypertens Res. 2019 Jun;42(6):876-882. doi: 10.1038/s41440-018-0199-x. Epub 2019 Jan 10.
Digit ratio (2D:4D) is a biomarker of prenatal hormone exposure levels; this biomarker is negatively related to prenatal androgen exposure and positively related to prenatal estrogen exposure. We investigated the correlation between digit ratio (2D:4D) and blood pressure. A school-based survey of 687 adolescents aged 8-15 years was conducted. The ring finger (4D) and index finger (2D), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), testosterone, and estradiol levels were measured. Their dietary behaviors and physical and sedentary activity time were surveyed. The results showed the 2D:4D ratio was not significantly related to SBP, DBP, or testosterone in boys and girls. However, it was significantly positively correlated with serum estradiol levels in boys. The 2D, 4D, multiplied index of digit ratio and length (MIDRL) and average of the index finger and ring finger (AIR) were directly related to SBP in both sexes (βs in boys were 4.16, 5.49, 2.95, and 5.25, respectively, P < 0.01; βs in girls were 3.43, 2.71, 3.02, and 3.36, respectively, P < 0.01) and were also indirectly associated with SBP through testosterone (P < 0.05). The 2D, 4D and AIR were indirectly related to DBP in girls through testosterone (P < 0.05). In conclusion, there were direct and indirect associations between finger-length indicators and blood pressure, which implies that prenatal hormone levels might be correlated with blood pressure in children and adolescents.
指长比（2D:4D）是产前激素暴露水平的生物标志物；该生物标志物与产前雄激素暴露呈负相关，与产前雌激素暴露呈正相关。我们研究了指长比（2D:4D）与血压之间的相关性。对 687 名 8-15 岁青少年进行了一项基于学校的调查。测量了无名指（4D）和食指（2D）、收缩压（SBP）、舒张压（DBP）、睾酮和雌二醇水平。还调查了他们的饮食行为以及体力活动和久坐时间。结果表明，2D:4D 比值与男孩和女孩的 SBP、DBP 或睾酮均无显著相关性。然而，它与男孩的血清雌二醇水平呈显著正相关。2D、4D、指数乘积指长比（MIDRL）和食指与无名指平均值（AIR）与男女 SBP 均呈直接相关（男孩的β值分别为 4.16、5.49、2.95 和 5.25，均 P<0.01；女孩的β值分别为 3.43、2.71、3.02 和 3.36，均 P<0.01），且通过睾酮与 SBP 呈间接相关（P<0.05）。2D、4D 和 AIR 通过睾酮与女孩的 DBP 呈间接相关（P<0.05）。总之，手指长度指标与血压之间存在直接和间接的关联，这表明产前激素水平可能与儿童和青少年的血压有关。
