title: Potential pathways by which maternal second-hand smoke exposure during pregnancy causes full-term low birth weight.
abstract: It is well documented that maternal exposure to second-hand smoke (SHS) during pregnancy causes low birth weight (LBW), but its mechanism remains unknown. This study explored the potential pathways. We enrolled 195 pregnant women who delivered full-term LBW newborns, and 195 who delivered full-term normal birth weight newborns as the controls. After controlling for maternal age, education level, family income, pre-pregnant body mass index, newborn gender and gestational age, logistic regression analysis revealed that LBW was significantly and positively associated with maternal exposure to SHS during pregnancy, lower placental weight, TNF-α and IL-1β, and that SHS exposure was significantly associated with lower placental weight, TNF-α and IL-1β. Structural equation modelling identified two plausible pathways by which maternal exposure to SHS during pregnancy might cause LBW. First, SHS exposure induced the elevation of TNF-α, which might directly increase the risk of LBW by transmission across the placenta. Second, SHS exposure first increased maternal secretion of IL-1β and TNF-α, which then triggered the secretion of VCAM-1; both TNF-α and VCAM-1 were significantly associated with lower placental weight, thus increasing the risk of LBW. In conclusion, maternal exposure to SHS during pregnancy may lead to LBW through the potential pathways of maternal inflammation and lower placental weight.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.|School of Community and Global Health, Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Zhongzheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Chuanbo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Division of Behavioral Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, USA.
authors.forename: Xiaozhong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Fuying
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: Shenzhen Women and Children's Hospital, Shenzhen, China.
authors.forename: Shixin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: Foshan Women and Children's Hospital, Foshan, China.
authors.forename: Deqin
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Wei-Qing
authors.initials: WQ
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D053583:Interleukin-1beta / Q000097:blood*; D008423:Maternal Age; D018811:Maternal Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D009929:Organ Size; D011247:Pregnancy; D047929:Term Birth / Q000187:drug effects*; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: C508585:IL1B protein, human; D053583:Interleukin-1beta; C439524:TNF protein, human; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha