Key Lab of Health Technology Assessment, National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China; Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China.
MOE-Shanghai Key Laboratory of Children's Environmental Health, Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200030, China.
Sci Total Environ. 2019 Oct 1;685:1152-1159. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.06.191. Epub 2019 Jun 14.
Increasing evidence supports that maternal exposure to vanadium (V) is associated with adverse birth outcomes including preterm birth and low birth weight. However, the effect of V exposure on intrauterine fetal growth and the underlying biological mechanism are still unclear. The present study includes 227 mother-infant pairs from the Shanghai Maternal-Child Pairs Cohort to assess the gender-specific effect of intrauterine V exposure on fetal growth and related cytokines. Maternal blood samples were collected to measure V concentration and biomarkers of growth. We used multiple linear regression to evaluate the gender-specific effect of prenatal V exposure on birth parameter and growth-related cytokines. Mixed-effect models were applied to assess the non-linear association between gestational V exposure and intrauterine fetal growth. Covariates adjusted in the regression models as potential confounders including maternal age, pre-pregnancy body mass index, gestational weeks, parity, socio-demographic status, etc. Results showed that prenatal V exposure was negatively associated with birth weight (β = -64.73) in female newborns and body length (β = -0.10) in male. During the fetal period, maternal V exposure was associated with decreased biparietal diameter (β = -0.91), head circumference (β = -2.96), femur length (β = -0.72) and humerus length (β = -0.64) in male. Trimester-specific analyses showed that serum V concentration in the second trimester was associated with significant reductions in intrauterine growth parameters. Besides, prenatal V exposure could down-regulate the expression of growth hormone (GH) in both maternal blood (β = -0.23) and umbilical cord blood (β = -1.66) in male fetuses, and the expression of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in cord blood in females (β = -0.52). Our results suggest that prenatal V exposure has a gender-specific effect on fetal growth and the second trimester may be a sensitive window. The disruption of grow-related cytokines may potentially be the biological mechanism of these effects.
越来越多的证据表明，母体暴露于钒（V）与不良出生结局有关，包括早产和低出生体重。然而，V 暴露对宫内胎儿生长的影响及其潜在的生物学机制仍不清楚。本研究纳入了来自上海母婴队列的 227 对母婴，以评估宫内 V 暴露对胎儿生长和相关细胞因子的性别特异性影响。采集孕妇血样以测量 V 浓度和生长相关生物标志物。我们使用多元线性回归评估了产前 V 暴露对出生参数和生长相关细胞因子的性别特异性影响。混合效应模型用于评估妊娠期 V 暴露与宫内胎儿生长之间的非线性关系。回归模型中调整了包括母亲年龄、孕前体重指数、孕周、产次、社会人口统计学等在内的混杂因素。结果显示，产前 V 暴露与女婴出生体重（β=-64.73）和男婴身长（β=-0.10）呈负相关。在胎儿期，母体 V 暴露与男婴的双顶径（β=-0.91）、头围（β=-2.96）、股骨长（β=-0.72）和肱骨长（β=-0.64）的降低有关。 trimester-specific 分析显示，妊娠中期血清 V 浓度与宫内生长参数的显著降低有关。此外，产前 V 暴露可下调男性胎儿母血（β=-0.23）和脐血（β=-1.66）中生长激素（GH）的表达，以及女性脐血中脑源性神经营养因子（BDNF）的表达（β=-0.52）。我们的研究结果表明，产前 V 暴露对胎儿生长有性别特异性影响，妊娠中期可能是一个敏感窗口。生长相关细胞因子的紊乱可能是这些影响的生物学机制。
