Lower birth weight is linked to poorer cardiovascular health in middle-aged population-based adults

<p><strong>Objective:</strong>&nbsp;To examine associations of birth weight with clinical and imaging indicators of cardiovascular health and evaluate mechanistic pathways in the UK Biobank.</p> <p><strong>Methods:</strong>&nbsp;Competing risk regres...

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Main Authors: Raisi-Estabragh, Z, Cooper, J, Bethell, MS, McCracken, C, Lewandowski, AJ, Leeson, P, Neubauer, S, Harvey, NC, Petersen, SE
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2022
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author Raisi-Estabragh, Z
Cooper, J
Bethell, MS
McCracken, C
Lewandowski, AJ
Leeson, P
Neubauer, S
Harvey, NC
Petersen, SE
author_facet Raisi-Estabragh, Z
Cooper, J
Bethell, MS
McCracken, C
Lewandowski, AJ
Leeson, P
Neubauer, S
Harvey, NC
Petersen, SE
author_sort Raisi-Estabragh, Z
collection OXFORD
description <p><strong>Objective:</strong>&nbsp;To examine associations of birth weight with clinical and imaging indicators of cardiovascular health and evaluate mechanistic pathways in the UK Biobank.</p> <p><strong>Methods:</strong>&nbsp;Competing risk regression was used to estimate associations of birth weight with incident myocardial infarction (MI) and mortality (all-cause, cardiovascular disease, ischaemic heart disease, MI), over 7&ndash;12 years of longitudinal follow-up, adjusting for age, sex, deprivation, maternal smoking/hypertension and maternal/paternal diabetes. Mediation analysis was used to evaluate the role of childhood growth, adulthood obesity, cardiometabolic diseases and blood biomarkers in mediating the birth weight&ndash;MI relationship. Linear regression was used to estimate associations of birth weight with left ventricular (LV) mass-to-volume ratio, LV stroke volume, global longitudinal strain, LV global function index and left atrial ejection fraction.</p> <p><strong>Results:</strong>&nbsp;258&thinsp;787 participants from white ethnicities (61%&thinsp;women, median age 56 (49, 62) years) were studied. Birth weight had a non-linear relationship with incident MI, with a significant inverse association below an optimal threshold of 3.2&thinsp;kg (subdistribution HR: 1.15 (1.08 to 1.22), p=6.0&times;10<sup>&ndash;5</sup>) and attenuation to the null above this threshold. The birth weight&ndash;MI effect was mediated through hypertension (8.4%), glycated haemoglobin (7.0%), C reactive protein (6.4%), high-density lipoprotein (5.2%) and high cholesterol (4.1%). Birth weight&ndash;mortality associations were statistically non-significant after Bonferroni correction. In participants with cardiovascular magnetic resonance (n=19&thinsp;314), lower birth weight was associated with adverse LV remodelling (greater concentricity, poorer function).</p> <p><strong>Conclusions:</strong>&nbsp;Lower birth weight was associated with greater risk of incident MI and unhealthy LV phenotypes; effects were partially mediated through cardiometabolic disease and systemic inflammation. These findings support consideration of birth weight in risk prediction and highlight actionable areas for disease prevention.</p>
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spelling oxford-uuid:b1d8dab6-2067-4f86-a000-c243ae46813f2023-08-25T13:59:33ZLower birth weight is linked to poorer cardiovascular health in middle-aged population-based adultsJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:b1d8dab6-2067-4f86-a000-c243ae46813fEnglishSymplectic ElementsBMJ Publishing Group2022Raisi-Estabragh, ZCooper, JBethell, MSMcCracken, CLewandowski, AJLeeson, PNeubauer, SHarvey, NCPetersen, SE<p><strong>Objective:</strong>&nbsp;To examine associations of birth weight with clinical and imaging indicators of cardiovascular health and evaluate mechanistic pathways in the UK Biobank.</p> <p><strong>Methods:</strong>&nbsp;Competing risk regression was used to estimate associations of birth weight with incident myocardial infarction (MI) and mortality (all-cause, cardiovascular disease, ischaemic heart disease, MI), over 7&ndash;12 years of longitudinal follow-up, adjusting for age, sex, deprivation, maternal smoking/hypertension and maternal/paternal diabetes. Mediation analysis was used to evaluate the role of childhood growth, adulthood obesity, cardiometabolic diseases and blood biomarkers in mediating the birth weight&ndash;MI relationship. Linear regression was used to estimate associations of birth weight with left ventricular (LV) mass-to-volume ratio, LV stroke volume, global longitudinal strain, LV global function index and left atrial ejection fraction.</p> <p><strong>Results:</strong>&nbsp;258&thinsp;787 participants from white ethnicities (61%&thinsp;women, median age 56 (49, 62) years) were studied. Birth weight had a non-linear relationship with incident MI, with a significant inverse association below an optimal threshold of 3.2&thinsp;kg (subdistribution HR: 1.15 (1.08 to 1.22), p=6.0&times;10<sup>&ndash;5</sup>) and attenuation to the null above this threshold. The birth weight&ndash;MI effect was mediated through hypertension (8.4%), glycated haemoglobin (7.0%), C reactive protein (6.4%), high-density lipoprotein (5.2%) and high cholesterol (4.1%). Birth weight&ndash;mortality associations were statistically non-significant after Bonferroni correction. In participants with cardiovascular magnetic resonance (n=19&thinsp;314), lower birth weight was associated with adverse LV remodelling (greater concentricity, poorer function).</p> <p><strong>Conclusions:</strong>&nbsp;Lower birth weight was associated with greater risk of incident MI and unhealthy LV phenotypes; effects were partially mediated through cardiometabolic disease and systemic inflammation. These findings support consideration of birth weight in risk prediction and highlight actionable areas for disease prevention.</p>
spellingShingle Raisi-Estabragh, Z
Cooper, J
Bethell, MS
McCracken, C
Lewandowski, AJ
Leeson, P
Neubauer, S
Harvey, NC
Petersen, SE
Lower birth weight is linked to poorer cardiovascular health in middle-aged population-based adults
title Lower birth weight is linked to poorer cardiovascular health in middle-aged population-based adults
title_full Lower birth weight is linked to poorer cardiovascular health in middle-aged population-based adults
title_fullStr Lower birth weight is linked to poorer cardiovascular health in middle-aged population-based adults
title_full_unstemmed Lower birth weight is linked to poorer cardiovascular health in middle-aged population-based adults
title_short Lower birth weight is linked to poorer cardiovascular health in middle-aged population-based adults
title_sort lower birth weight is linked to poorer cardiovascular health in middle aged population based adults
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