title: Maternal sex hormones in early pregnancy and asthma among offspring: a case-control study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Sex hormones may be associated with the risk of onset of asthma.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To study the association between maternal sex hormone concentrations during early pregnancy and the risk of asthma among offspring.
  
  
  METHODS
  A case-control study of 129 asthmatic children and 125 control children 5 to 6 years of age. Maternal sera in early pregnancy were obtained from the Finnish Maternal Cohort serum bank.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The means of serum progesterone and estradiol and free estradiol in mothers of asthmatic and control children were 81.0 and 82.8 nmol/L (P =.60), 7.87 nmol/L and 7.65 nmol/L (P =.99), and 149.5 pmol/L and 148.0 pmol/L (P =.95), respectively. There were also no differences in the mean concentrations of maternal sex hormones according to the presence of allergic rhinitis or atopic eczema among the children.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The current results do not support an association between maternal sex hormone concentrations during early pregnancy and onset of allergic disease in early childhood.
authors.affiliation: Unit of Environmental Epidemiology, National Public Health Institute, Kuopio, Finland.
authors.forename: Baizhuang
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Juha
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pekkanen
authors.forename: Tuula
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Husman
authors.forename: Leea
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Keski-Nisula
authors.forename: Pentti
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Koskela
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000209:etiology; D004958:Estradiol / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006969:Hypersensitivity, Immediate / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011261:Pregnancy Trimester, First; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D011374:Progesterone / Q000097:blood*; D012221:Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial / Q000209:etiology; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D011374:Progesterone; D004958:Estradiol