Skip Navigation



American Journal of Epidemiology Advance Access published online on June 21, 2006
American Journal of Epidemiology, doi:10.1093/aje/kwj219
This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
164/5/478    most recent
kwj219v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Boyd, H. A.
Right arrow Articles by Melbye, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Boyd, H. A.
Right arrow Articles by Melbye, M.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

American Journal of Epidemiology Copyright © 2006 by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health All rights reserved; printed in U.S.A.
Received November 8, 2005
Accepted March 3, 2006

ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS

Maternal Serum Alpha-Fetoprotein Level during Pregnancy and Isolated Cryptorchidism in Male Offspring

Heather A. Boyd 1 *, Charlotte Myrup 1, Jan Wohlfahrt 1, Tine Westergaard 1, Bent Nørgaard-Pedersen 2, and Mads Melbye 1

1 Department of Epidemiology Research, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark
2 Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Heather A. Boyd, E-mail: hoy{at}ssi.dk


  Abstract

Cryptorchidism is thought to result from a disruption of the androgen-estrogen balance in utero. Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) interacts with and may modulate fetal responses to estrogens. Using a cohort of boys born to women participating in a Danish maternal serum AFP screening program between 1980 and 1994, the authors explored whether AFP levels (as reflected by maternal serum AFP levels in gestational weeks 14-22) were associated with the risk of isolated cryptorchidism in male offspring. Cryptorchidism diagnoses and covariate information were obtained from Denmark's national health registries. Risk ratios for cryptorchidism by maternal serum AFP multiples of the median were estimated by use of log-linear binomial regression. Of 25,418 boys, 663 (2.6%) were diagnosed with cryptorchidism. After adjustment for confounders, boys with maternal serum AFP levels greater than or equal to 2.5 times the median had a 63% (95% confidence interval: -2, 172) greater risk of cryptorchidism than did boys with maternal serum AFP levels within 25% of the median. High fetal AFP levels may contribute directly to events producing cryptorchidism; alternatively, elevated maternal serum AFP levels may reflect placental dysfunction, some aspect of which contributes to cryptorchidism.

Keywords: alpha-fetoproteins; cryptorchidism; estrogens; pregnancy; risk factors.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Exp. Biol. Med.Home page
G. J. Mizejewski
Physiology of Alpha-Fetoprotein as a Biomarker for Perinatal Distress: Relevance to Adverse Pregnancy Outcome
Experimental Biology and Medicine, September 1, 2007; 232(8): 993 - 1004.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.