Periconceptional maternal alcohol consumption of 1.9 g per day tied to prehypertension in offspring
Singapore: Maternal self-reported alcohol consumption of at least 1.9 g/day 1 year before pregnancy recognition was associated with an increased risk of rapid kidney growth and prehypertension in children, a recent study has revealed.
Findings of the study, published in the Journal of Hypertension, highlight the potentially detrimental effects of low periconceptional alcohol consumption, below national guidelines on cardiorenal health of offspring.
The study was conducted by Suresh Anand Sadananthan, Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, Agency for Science Technology and Research, Singapore, and colleagues with the objective to investigate the relationship between the maternal alcohol consumption levels during the 1 year before pregnancy recognition and cardiorenal, metabolic, and neurocognitive health during childhood.
For this purpose, 1106 women and their children from the Growing Up in Singapore Towards healthy Outcomes mother-offspring cohort were included. The quantity of maternal alcohol consumption in the 12 months prior to pregnancy recognition was categorized as high (≥75th percentile: 1.9 g/day), low (<1.9 g/day), and none. The frequency of alcohol consumption was categorized as high (≥2–3 times/week), low (<2–3 times/week), and none.
Assessment of offspring MRI-based abdominal fat depot, blood pressure, kidney, and brain volumes, metabolic syndrome score, and cognitive intelligence scores was done. A simplified pediatric threshold of 110/70 mmHg was used to define child prehypertension/hypertension at the age of 6 years.
Key findings of the study include:
- The average maternal alcohol consumption in the year prior to pregnancy recognition was 2.5 g/day, which is lower than the daily maximal limit of one standard drink (10 g) recommended for women by Singapore's Ministry of Health.
- After adjusting for participant characteristics, alcohol consumption at least 1.9 g/day was associated with over two-fold higher risk (risk ratio = 2.18) of child prehypertension and 15% greater kidney growth between early infancy and age 6 years compared with abstinence.
- Alcohol consumption was not associated with metabolic and neurocognitive health at age 6–7 years.
- The associations with a high frequency of alcohol consumption were concordant with those obtained for the quantity of alcohol consumption.
"Maternal self-reported alcohol consumption of at least 1.9 g/day prior to pregnancy recognition was linked with an increased risk of child prehypertension and rapid kidney growth," wrote the authors. "Our results highlight the potentially detrimental effects of low periconceptional alcohol consumption, below national guidelines on offspring cardiorenal health."
Reference:
Sadananthan, Suresh Ananda; Michael, Navina; Tint, Mya Thwaya,b; Thirumurugan, Kashthuria; Yuan, Wen Lunc; Ong, Yi Yingc; Law, Evelyna,c,d; Choo, Jonathane; Ling, Lieng Hsif,g; Shek, Lynettea,c,d; Fabian, Yaph,j; Tan, Kok Hianh,k; Vickers, Markl; Godfrey, Keith M.m; Gluckman, Peter D.a,l; Chong, Yap Senga,b; Fortier, Mariellea,n; Lee, Yung Senga,c,d; Eriksson, Johan G.a,b,o,p; Chan, Shiao-Ynga,b; Moritz, Karenq,r; Velan, S. Sendhila,s; Wlodek, Mary E.a,b,t Associations of maternal periconceptional alcohol consumption with offspring prehypertension/hypertension at age 6 years: the Growing Up in Singapore Towards healthy Outcomes prospective mother-offspring cohort study, Journal of Hypertension: June 2022 - Volume 40 - Issue 6 - p 1212-1222 doi: 10.1097/HJH.0000000000003134
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