Abstract
IntroductionLow birthweight, which can be caused by inappropriate intrauterine growth or prematurity, is associated with development of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) as well as pre-eclampsia later in life, but the relative effects of prematurity and inappropriate intrauterine growth remain uncertain.MethodsThrough nation-wide registries we identified all Danish mothers in the years 1989–2007. Two separate cohorts consisting mothers born 1974–1977 (n = 84219) and 1978–1981 (n = 32376) were studied, due to different methods of registering birthweight and gestational age in the two periods. Data was linked with information on GDM, pre-eclampsia and education.ResultsIn a multivariate logistic regression model the odds of developing GDM was increased by 5–7% for each week the mother was born before term (p = 0.018 for 1974–1977, p = 0.048 for 1978–1981), while the odds were increased by 13–17% for each standard deviation (SD) reduction in birthweight for gestational age for those who were small or normal for gestational age (p<0.0001 and p = 0.035) and increased by 118–122% for each SD increase above the normal range (p<0.0001 and p = 0.024). The odds of pre-eclampsia was increased by 3–5% for each week the mother was born before term (p = 0.064 and p = 0.04), while the odds were increased 11–12% for each SD reduction in birthweight for gestational age (p<0.0001 and p = 0.0002).ConclusionIn this cohort of young Danish mothers, being born premature or with increasingly low birthweight for gestational age was associated with an increased risk of GDM and pre-eclampsia in adulthood, while increasingly high birthweight for gestational age was associated with an increased risk of GDM and a decreased risk of pre-eclampsia. Inappropriate weight for gestational age was a more important risk factor than prematurity.
Highlights
Low birthweight, which can be caused by inappropriate intrauterine growth or prematurity, is associated with development of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) as well as pre-eclampsia later in life, but the relative effects of prematurity and inappropriate intrauterine growth remain uncertain
The risk of GDM has been shown to be associated with being born small for gestational age (SGA), large for gestational age (LGA) as well as preterm birth in a univariate analysis, but the factors were not included in a multivariate analysis [14]
In this cohort 2.2% of the pregnancies were complicated by pre-eclampsia (n = 1841) and 1.1% by GDM (n = 898)
Summary
Low birthweight, which can be caused by inappropriate intrauterine growth or prematurity, is associated with development of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) as well as pre-eclampsia later in life, but the relative effects of prematurity and inappropriate intrauterine growth remain uncertain. With a normal fetal growth, are showing increased insulin resistance in both childhood and early adult life compared to children born at term, and maternal insulin resistance has been shown to be a risk factor for preeclampsia [10,11,12]. Both preterm birth and poor fetal growth are associated with an increased risk of T2D in adult life [13]. The risk of preeclampsia is increased in mothers born SGA, but we could not identify studies on the risk for women born preterm, LGA or studies that combined prematurity and inappropriate growth in the analysis [15]
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