title: Pregnancy weight gain is not associated with maternal or mixed umbilical cord estrogen and androgen concentrations.
abstract: The association of maternal weight gain with serum hormone concentrations was explored in 75 women who had healthy, singleton pregnancies. Estradiol, estriol, estrone, androstenedione, testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), and DHEA sulfate concentrations were measured both in maternal and mixed umbilical cord serum to assess hormone levels in both the maternal and fetal circulation at delivery. Our data show no association of maternal or cord steroid hormone concentrations with pregnancy weight gain. Increased exposure to steroid hormones, especially estrogens, during pregnancy has been hypothesized to play a role in subsequent breast cancer risk for both mother and female offspring. Our results are not consistent with an effect of pregnancy weight gain being mediated by this pathway as reflected by hormone concentrations at the end of pregnancy.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cancer Prevention and Mammary Biology and Tumorigenesis Laboratory, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892-7105, USA. badgerje@mail.nih.gov
authors.forename: Jessica M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Faupel-Badger
authors.forename: Robert N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Hoover
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Potischman
authors.forename: James M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Troisi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000728:Androgens / Q000097:blood*; D004967:Estrogens / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000097:blood*; D015430:Weight Gain / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D000728:Androgens; D004967:Estrogens