Birth weight, adult weight, and cardiovascular biomarkers : Evidence from the Cardiovascular Young Finns Study

Abstract
This study quantifies the causal effect of birth weight on cardiovascular biomarkers in adulthood using the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study (YFS). We apply a multivariable Mendelian randomization (MVMR) method that provides a novel approach to improve inference in causal analysis based on a mediation framework. The results show that birth weight is linked to triglyceride levels (β = −0.294; 95% CI [−0.591, 0.003]) but not to low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels (β = 0.007; 95% CI [−0.168, 0.183]). The total effect of birth weight on triglyceride levels is partly offset by a mediation pathway linking birth weight to adult BMI (β = 0.111; 95% CI [−0.013, 0.234]). The negative total effect is consistent with the fetal programming hypothesis. The positive indirect effect via adult BMI highlights the persistence of body weight throughout a person's life and the adverse effects of high BMI on health. The results are consistent with previous findings that both low birth weight and weight gain increase health risks in adulthood.
Main Authors
Format
Articles Research article
Published
2022
Series
Subjects
Publication in research information system
Publisher
Elsevier BV
The permanent address of the publication
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:jyu-202112206028Use this for linking
Review status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0091-7435
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2021.106894
Language
English
Published in
Preventive Medicine
Citation
  • Pehkonen, J., Viinikainen, J., Kari, J. T., Böckerman, P., Lehtimäki, T., Viikari, J., & Raitakari, O. (2022). Birth weight, adult weight, and cardiovascular biomarkers : Evidence from the Cardiovascular Young Finns Study. Preventive Medicine, 154, Article 106894. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2021.106894
License
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0Open Access
Additional information about funding
The YFS has been financially supported by the Academy of Finland (grant numbers 322098, 286284, 134309 (Eye), 126925, 121584, 124282, 129378 (Salve), 117787 (Gendi), 41071 (Skidi)); Social Insurance Institution of Finland; Competitive State Research Financing of the Expert Responsibility area of Kuopio; Tampere and Turku University Hospitals (grant number X51001); Juho Vainio Foundation; Paavo Nurmi Foundation; Finnish Foundation for Cardiovascular Research; Finnish Cultural Foundation; the Sigrid Juselius Foundation; Tampere Tuberculosis Foundation; Emil Aaltonen Foundation; Yrjö Jahnsson Foundation; Signe and Ane Gyllenberg Foundation; Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation; Diabetes Research Foundation of Finnish Diabetes Association; EU Horizon 2020 (grant number 755320 for TAX-INOMISIS); European Research Council (grant number 742927 for MULTIEPIGEN project); Tampere University Hospital Supporting Foundation; the Society of Finnish Clinical Chemistry.
Copyright© 2021 the Authors

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