Maternal Dietary L-Arginine and Adverse Birth Outcomes in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

The amino acid arginine is a physiological precursor to nitric oxide, which is a key mediator of embryonic survival, fetal growth, and pregnancy maintenance. We evaluated the association between consumption of the amino acid arginine and the rate of adverse birth outcomes using data from a double-bl...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of epidemiology 2017-09, Vol.186 (5), p.603-611
Main Authors: Darling, Anne Marie, McDonald, Chloe R, Urassa, Willy S, Kain, Kevin C, Mwiru, Ramadhani S, Fawzi, Wafaie W
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arginine - administration & dosage
Arginine - physiology
Diet
Dietary Supplements - statistics & numerical data
Female
Humans
Infant, Newborn
Micronutrients - administration & dosage
Micronutrients - physiology
Original Contributions
Poisson Distribution
Pregnancy
Pregnancy Outcome - epidemiology
Premature Birth - epidemiology
Premature Birth - prevention & control
Prospective Studies
Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
Tanzania - epidemiology
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Summary:The amino acid arginine is a physiological precursor to nitric oxide, which is a key mediator of embryonic survival, fetal growth, and pregnancy maintenance. We evaluated the association between consumption of the amino acid arginine and the rate of adverse birth outcomes using data from a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled micronutrient supplementation trial among pregnant women in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (2001-2004). Dietary intakes of arginine were assessed using repeated 24-hour recalls that were administered throughout pregnancy. Participants (n = 7,591) were monitored by research midwives throughout follow-up to assess pregnancy outcomes. Cubic-restricted splines and multivariable log-Poisson regression with empirical standard errors were used to estimate the continuous and categorical associations between arginine intake and adverse birth outcomes. Compared with women within the lowest quintile of arginine intake, those within the highest quintile had 0.79 times the risk of preterm birth before 37 weeks (95% confidence interval: 0.63, 1.00; P = 0.03). The continuous associations of arginine intake with preterm birth before 37 weeks and with preterm birth before 34 weeks were characterized by an initial rapid decrease in risk with increasing intake (P for nonlinearity 
ISSN:0002-9262
1476-6256
DOI:10.1093/aje/kwx080