Research report
Do genetic factors contribute to the association between birth
weight and blood pressure?
K Christensena, H Støvringa, M McGueb
a Institute of Public
Health, Epidemiology, and Institute for Demography and Statistics,
University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark, b Department of Psychology,
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA
Correspondence to: Dr Christensen, Institute of Public Health (Epidemiology), University of Southern Denmark, Sdr Boulevard 23A, DK-5000 Odense C, Denmark (KChristensen{at}health.sdu.dk)
Accepted for publication 12 March 2001
OBJECTIVES
To evaluate
whether genetic factors contribute to the association between low birth
weight and increased blood pressure among adolescents.
DESIGNHistorical
cohort study of twin pairs. It was evaluated whether (1) a negative
association between birth weight and systolic blood pressure was found
in the overall twin sample and (2) whether the intrapair difference in
birth weight correlated with the intrapair difference in systolic blood
pressurethereby controlling for the effect of genetic factors (all in
monozygotic and on average half in dizygotic pairs).
SETTINGThe Minnesota
Twin Family Study.
PARTICIPANTS1311
pairs of adolescent twins.
MAIN RESULTSA
negative association between birth weight and systolic blood pressure
was retrieved in the overall sample. The regression coefficient after
controlling for current weight was 
1.88 mm Hg/kg (SE 0.61), which
corresponds to results from previous studies of singleton adolescents.
The regression coefficient fell to 0.64 mm Hg/kg (SE 0.86) when the
intrapair analyses were used. The largest reduction was observed among
monozygotic twins: from 2.44 mm Hg/kg (SE 0.75) in the overall
monozygotic twin sample to 1.06 mm Hg/kg (SE 1.14) in the analyses
of the within monozygotic pair differences.
CONCLUSIONThe
association between low birth weight and increased blood pressure later
in life is well established. "The fetal programming hypothesis"
suggests that the association is caused by intrauterine malnutrition
while a new hypothesis "the fetal insulin hypothesis" proposes that
genetically determined insulin resistance also contributes significantly to the association. A recent twin study of middle aged
twins showed no evidence for an influence of genetic factors while this
larger study provides support for the fetal insulin hypothesis: the
association between birth weight and blood pressure attenuated among
adolescents when genetic factors were controlled. Together this
suggests an important contribution of genetic factors to the
association between fetal growth and systolic blood pressure in adolescence.
Keywords: blood pressure; birth weight; twins
© 2001 by Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
CiteULike 
Complore 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us 
Digg 
Reddit 
Technorati What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
-
Huxley, R., Owen, C. G, Whincup, P. H, Cook, D. G, Rich-Edwards, J., Smith, G. D., Collins, R.
(2007). Is birth weight a risk factor for ischemic heart disease in later life?. Am. J. Clin. Nutr.
85: 1244-1250
[Abstract] [Full Text] -
Hershkovitz, D., Burbea, Z., Skorecki, K., Brenner, B. M.
(2007). Fetal Programming of Adult Kidney Disease: Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms. CJASN
2: 334-342
[Full Text] -
Gosselin, J., Fouron, J.-C., Amiel-Tison, C.
(2006). Consequences of Uteroplacental Insufficiency on Developmental and Intellectual Performances. NeoReviews
7: e202-e207
[Full Text] -
Leon, D. A., Koupil, I., Mann, V., Tuvemo, T., Lindmark, G., Mohsen, R., Byberg, L., Lithell, H.
(2005). Fetal, Developmental, and Parental Influences on Childhood Systolic Blood Pressure in 600 Sib Pairs: The Uppsala Family Study. Circulation
112: 3478-3485
[Abstract] [Full Text] -
Carlin, J. B, Gurrin, L. C, Sterne, J. A., Morley, R., Dwyer, T.
(2005). Regression models for twin studies: a critical review. Int J Epidemiol
34: 1089-1099
[Abstract] [Full Text] -
Iliadou, A, Cnattingius, S, Lichtenstein, P
(2004). Low birthweight and Type 2 diabetes: A study on 11 162 Swedish twins. Int J Epidemiol
33: 948-953
[Abstract] [Full Text] -
McNeill, G, Tuya, C, Smith, W.
(2004). The role of genetic and environmental factors in the association between birthweight and blood pressure: evidence from meta-analysis of twin studies. Int J Epidemiol
33: 995-1001
[Abstract] [Full Text] -
McNeill, G., Tuya, C., Campbell, D. M., Haggarty, P., Smith, W. C. S., Masson, L. F., Cumming, A., Broom, I., Haites, N.
(2003). Blood Pressure in Relation to Birth Weight in Twins and Singleton Controls Matched for Gestational Age. Am J Epidemiol
158: 150-155
[Abstract] [Full Text]
- Full Text
- Full Text (PDF)
- Submit a response
- Alert me when this article is cited
- Alert me when eLetters are posted
- Alert me if a correction is posted
- Citation Map
Services
- Email this link to a friend
- Similar articles in this journal
- Similar articles in PubMed
- Add article to my folders
- Download to citation manager
- Request Permissions
Citing Articles
Google Scholar
PubMed
Topic Collections
Bookmark with
Register for free content
The full back archive is now available for all BMJ Journals. Institutional subscribers may access the entire archive as part of their subscription. Personal subscribers will also have access to all content when logged in. Non-subscribers who register have free access to all articles published before 2006 right back to volume 1 issue 1. Register here to access the free archive of all BMJ Journals.
Don't forget to sign up for content alerts so you keep up to date with all the articles as they are published.
