American Journal of Epidemiology Advance Access originally published online on November 28, 2007
American Journal of Epidemiology 2008 167(4):474-479; doi:10.1093/aje/kwm319
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS |
Familial Patterns of Preterm Delivery: Maternal and Fetal Contributions
1 Epidemiology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Durham, NC
2 Department of Public Health and Primary Care Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
Correspondence to Dr. Allen J. Wilcox, Epidemiology Branch, MD A3-05, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, P.O. Box 12233, Durham, NC 27709 (e-mail: wilcox{at}niehs.nih.gov).
Received for publication June 29, 2007. Accepted for publication September 28, 2007.
Women who deliver preterm (<37 completed weeks' gestation) are at high risk for recurrence. This has prompted exploration of candidate genes (both maternal and fetal) associated with preterm delivery. Epidemiologists can use recurrence patterns of preterm delivery across generations to assess the relative contributions of maternal and fetal genes. The authors used data from the Medical Birth Registry of Norway (1967–2004) to identify 191,282 mothers and 127,830 fathers who subsequently had at least one singleton offspring. The authors stratified parents according to whether or not they had been born preterm and calculated the risk of preterm delivery among their firstborn. Mothers born preterm had a relative risk for preterm delivery of 1.54 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.42, 1.67). This association was weaker for fathers born preterm (relative risk (RR) = 1.12, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.25). Among early preterm births (<35 weeks), the effect became stronger for mothers (RR = 1.85, 95% CI: 1.52, 2.27) and weaker for fathers (RR = 1.06, 95% CI: 0.77, 1.44). These data suggest that paternal genes have little, if any, effect on preterm delivery risk. This argues against major contributions of fetal genes inherited from either parent. The increased risk of preterm delivery among mothers born preterm is consistent with heritable maternal phenotypes that confer a propensity to deliver preterm.
family characteristics; genetics; premature birth
Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; RR, relative risk
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  H. A. Boyd, G. Poulsen, J. Wohlfahrt, J. C. Murray, B. Feenstra, and M. Melbye Maternal Contributions to Preterm Delivery Am. J. Epidemiol., October 23, 2009; (2009) kwp324v1. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
C. R. Weinberg and M. Shi The Genetics of Preterm Birth: Using What We Know to Design Better Association Studies Am. J. Epidemiol., October 23, 2009; (2009) kwp325v1. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. Little Invited Commentary: Maternal Effects in Preterm Birth--Effects of Maternal Genotype, Mitochondrial DNA, Imprinting, or Environment? Am. J. Epidemiol., October 23, 2009; (2009) kwp326v1. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
A. C. Svensson, S. Sandin, S. Cnattingius, M. Reilly, Y. Pawitan, C. M. Hultman, and P. Lichtenstein Svensson et al. Respond to "Maternal Genes and Environment in Preterm Birth" Am. J. Epidemiol., October 23, 2009; (2009) kwp327v1. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 M. C Tollanes, S. Rasmussen, and L. M Irgens Caesarean section among relatives Int. J. Epidemiol., December 1, 2008; 37(6): 1341 - 1348. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 G. K. Swamy, T. Ostbye, and R. Skjaerven Preterm Birth, Long-term Survival, and Fertility--Reply JAMA, July 9, 2008; 300(2): 167 - 168. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|