title: Male microchimerism and survival among women.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  During pregnancy, woman and fetus exchange small quantities of cells, and their persistence at later times is termed microchimerism. Microchimerism is known to substantially impact on women's later health. This study examined the survival of women according to male microchimerism status.
  
  
  METHODS
  Male microchimerism presence, measured as Y chromosome in peripheral blood samples, was determined in 272 women from the large Danish Diet, Cancer and Health cohort when aged 50-64 years during 1993-97. Women were followed up for cause-specific death in national Danish registers until the end of 2009. Survival was analysed using Cox regression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 190 women (70%) were male microchimerism positive. During follow-up 21 women died, of whom 11 (52%) were male microchimerism positive at enrolment and 10 were negative. Of the 21 deaths, 13 (62%) were due to cancer and 5 (24%) were due to cardiovascular disease. Male microchimerism presence was associated with a reduced hazard ratio of all-cause mortality of 0.42 (95% CI 0.17-1.03). The hazard ratio of death from cancer and cardiovascular disease was 0.24 (95% CI 0.08-0.79) and 1.66 (95% CI 0.18-15.48), respectively, among male microchimerism positive compared with negative women.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although the biological mechanisms are not precisely known, male microchimerism presence in peripheral blood of women is associated with substantially improved survival in women. The results also indicate that the association with male microchimerism may vary between different causes of death.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark, Department of Epidemiology Research, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Clinical Research Division, Seattle, WA, USA,Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA and Danish Cancer Society, Institute of Cancer Epidemiology, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Mads
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kamper-Jørgensen
authors.forename: Henrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hjalgrim
authors.forename: Anne-Marie Nybo
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Andersen
authors.forename: Vijayakrishna K
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Gadi
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tjønneland
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000235:genetics / Q000401:mortality; D002423:Cause of Death; D046528:Chimerism; D041322:Chromosomes, Human, Y; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D004247:DNA / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000401:mortality; D016017:Odds Ratio; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011247:Pregnancy; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013534:Survival
chemical_list: D004247:DNA
keywords: Denmark; Microchimerism; epidemiology; survival