Determinants of maternal sex steroids during the first half of pregnancy.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the associations of maternal and child characteristics with early pregnancy maternal concentrations of testosterone, androstenedione, progesterone, 17-hydroxyprogesterone, and estradiol (E2).


METHODS
We analyzed these hormones among 1,343 women with singleton pregnancies who donated serum samples to the Finnish Maternity Cohort from 1986 to 2006 during the first half of pregnancy (median 11 weeks). The associations of maternal and child characteristics with hormone concentrations were investigated by correlation and multivariable regression.


RESULTS
Women older than age 30 years had lower androgen and E2 but higher progesterone concentrations than women younger than that age. Multiparous women had 14% lower testosterone, 11% lower androstenedione and 17-hydroxyprogesterone, 9% lower progesterone, and 16% lower E2 concentrations compared with nulliparous women (all P<.05). Smoking mothers had 11%, 18%, and 8% higher testosterone, androstenedione, and 17-hydroxyprogesterone levels, respectively, but 10% lower progesterone compared with nonsmoking women (all P<.05). E2 concentrations were 9% higher (P<.05) among women with a female fetus compared with those with a male fetus.


CONCLUSIONS
Parity, smoking, and, to a lesser extent, maternal age and child sex are associated with sex steroid levels during the first half of a singleton pregnancy. The effects of smoking on the maternal hormonal environment and the possible long-term deleterious consequences on the fetus deserve further evaluation.
From the Division of Preventive Oncology, National Center for Tumor Diseases and German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany; National Institute for Health and Welfare, Oulu, Finland; University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland; Department of Environmental Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York; New York University Cancer Institute, New York, New York; Department of Medical Biosciences, University of Umeå, Umeå, Sweden; Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Nutritional Research, University of Umeå, Umeå, Sweden; School of Medicine, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland; Division of Cancer Epidemiology, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany; Institute for Statistical and Epidemiological Cancer Research, Helsinki, Finland; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York; Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Adetunji T
AT
Toriola
Marja
M
Vääräsmäki
Matti
M
Lehtinen
Anne
A
Zeleniuch-Jacquotte
Eva
E
Lundin
Kenneth-Gary
KG
Rodgers
Hans-Ake
HA
Lakso
Tianhui
T
Chen
Helena
H
Schock
Goran
G
Hallmans
Eero
E
Pukkala
Paolo
P
Toniolo
Kjell
K
Grankvist
Helja-Marja
HM
Surcel
Annekatrin
A
Lukanova
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001724:Birth Weight; D005260:Female; D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008423:Maternal Age; D008875:Middle Aged; D010298:Parity; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000097:blood*; D011261:Pregnancy Trimester, First / Q000097:blood*; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000097:blood; D055815:Young Adult
D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones