Associations of placental weight with maternal and cord blood hormones

• Published in: Annals of epidemiology 2013-11, Vol.23 (11), p.669-673
• Main Authors: Lagiou, Pagona, MD, Hsieh, Chung-Cheng, ScD, Samoli, Evangelia, PhD, Lagiou, Areti, PhD, Xu, Biao, PhD, Yu, Guo-Pei, MD, Onoyama, Sagano, MD, Chie, Lucy, MD, Vatten, Lars J., MD, Adami, Hans-Olov, MD, Trichopoulos, Dimitrios, MD, Williams, Michelle A., ScD
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Boston; China; Female; Fetal Blood; Gestational Age; Gonadal Steroid Hormones - blood; Hormones; Humans; Insulin-like growth factor; Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein 3 - blood; Internal Medicine; Intrauterine growth; Organ Size; Placenta; Placenta - physiology; Pregnancy; Prospective Studies; Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin - analysis; Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin - metabolism; Somatomedins - analysis; Somatomedins - metabolism; United States
• ISSN: 1047-2797; 1873-2585
• DOI: 10.1016/j.annepidem.2013.08.003

Abstract Purpose Placental weight has been associated with mammographic pattern and coronary heart disease in the adult offspring, but the mechanisms are unknown. We evaluated the associations of maternal and cord blood hormones with placental weight in normal pregnancies. Methods Prospective study of 167 normal singleton pregnancies in Boston, USA and 256 in Shanghai, China. Maternal hormone levels at the 27th gestational week were available for all pregnancies. Cord blood measurements were available for 86 pregnancies in Boston and 104 in Shanghai. Pearson partial correlation coefficients of log-transformed hormone levels with placental weight were calculated. Results Maternal levels of estriol, testosterone, and progesterone ( P < .05) were positively associated with placental weight. There was no such evidence for adiponectin, prolactin, and insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I. Cord blood steroids tended to be inversely associated with placental weight, the results being statistically significant for testosterone ( P < .05). There was a marginally significant positive association of cord blood IGF-I with placental weight. Reported results were adjusted for study center. Conclusions Placental weight appears to be positively correlated with maternal steroids. Its correlation with cord blood steroids, however, appears inverse, compatible with negative feedback mechanisms. There is also a suggestion for placental weight to be positively associated with cord blood IGF-I.