- Home
- Medical news & Guidelines
- Anesthesiology
- Cardiology and CTVS
- Critical Care
- Dentistry
- Dermatology
- Diabetes and Endocrinology
- ENT
- Gastroenterology
- Medicine
- Nephrology
- Neurology
- Obstretics-Gynaecology
- Oncology
- Ophthalmology
- Orthopaedics
- Pediatrics-Neonatology
- Psychiatry
- Pulmonology
- Radiology
- Surgery
- Urology
- Laboratory Medicine
- Diet
- Nursing
- Paramedical
- Physiotherapy
- Health news
- Fact Check
- Bone Health Fact Check
- Brain Health Fact Check
- Cancer Related Fact Check
- Child Care Fact Check
- Dental and oral health fact check
- Diabetes and metabolic health fact check
- Diet and Nutrition Fact Check
- Eye and ENT Care Fact Check
- Fitness fact check
- Gut health fact check
- Heart health fact check
- Kidney health fact check
- Medical education fact check
- Men's health fact check
- Respiratory fact check
- Skin and hair care fact check
- Vaccine and Immunization fact check
- Women's health fact check
- AYUSH
- State News
- Andaman and Nicobar Islands
- Andhra Pradesh
- Arunachal Pradesh
- Assam
- Bihar
- Chandigarh
- Chattisgarh
- Dadra and Nagar Haveli
- Daman and Diu
- Delhi
- Goa
- Gujarat
- Haryana
- Himachal Pradesh
- Jammu & Kashmir
- Jharkhand
- Karnataka
- Kerala
- Ladakh
- Lakshadweep
- Madhya Pradesh
- Maharashtra
- Manipur
- Meghalaya
- Mizoram
- Nagaland
- Odisha
- Puducherry
- Punjab
- Rajasthan
- Sikkim
- Tamil Nadu
- Telangana
- Tripura
- Uttar Pradesh
- Uttrakhand
- West Bengal
- Medical Education
- Industry
Evidence Links Genetically Determined Asthma to Spontaneous Abortion and Gestational Diabetes: Study
China: Genetically determined asthma is linked to a higher likelihood of spontaneous abortion (SA) and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), a recent study published in Heliyon has revealed. There is a need for further research to examine potential pathways.
"However, there is insufficient conclusive evidence supporting an elevated risk of spontaneous abortion and gestational diabetes in individuals diagnosed early with asthma or the interplay between asthma and preterm birth (PTB) or preeclampsia (PE). This suggests that confounding variables may have influenced findings in prior observational studies," the researchers wrote.
Mendelian randomization is a technique that uses genetic variants as instruments to explore causal relationships between exposures (like asthma) and outcomes (such as adverse pregnancy conditions). Unlike observational studies that can be affected by confounding factors, Mendelian randomization leverages genetic information to minimize bias and strengthen causal inference.
Several empirical studies have suggested a link between asthma and adverse pregnancy outcomes (APOs). However, the precise impact of asthma on APOs remains unclear. Considering this, Xinyu Han, Department of First Clinical Medical College, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, China, and colleagues performed univariate Mendelian randomization (UVMR) and MVMR studies to identify the causal association between asthma and APOs.
Bi-directional UVMR analyses were performed using combined information obtained from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) data. The primary method employed to assess the causal relationship between asthma or age at diagnosis and adverse APOs was the inverse variance weighted (IVW) method.
The exposure data from two sources were obtained from the IEU Open GWAS project, comprising 56,167 and 47,222 European asthma patients, respectively. Data on four adverse pregnancy outcomes were extracted from the GWAS dataset of the FinnGen collaboration. To mitigate potential confounding effects, including smoking status, frequent drinking, body mass index (BMI), and number of live births, the researchers utilized multivariable Mendelian randomization (MVMR). Additionally, rigorous sensitivity analyses were conducted to validate the robustness of the Mendelian randomization findings.
The following were the key findings of the study:
- Following the implementation of the Bonferroni adjustment, the UVMR assessment revealed that in the IVW model, asthma was significantly linked to an elevated risk of spontaneous abortion (SA) (odds ratio [OR]: 1.115) and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) (OR: 1.125).
- There was no causal correlation between asthma and preterm birth (PTB) (OR: 0.979) or preeclampsia (PE) (OR: 1.059).
- After adjusting for confounding factors, including smoking status, frequent drinking, BMI, and live birth quantity, the MVMR analysis shows a statistically significant causal relationship between asthma and SA or GDM.
- The investigation's findings did not reveal a substantial correlation between the age of asthma onset based on genetics and the likelihood of SA or GDM.
- The inverse MR outcomes indicate a lack of causal connection linking APOs to the incidence of asthma.
- Sensitivity analyses verified the validity of these findings.
"The study provides evidence indicating a genetic predisposition to asthma is associated with an increased risk of spontaneous abortion and gestational diabetes mellitus," the researchers wrote. "Further exploration is required to elucidate the underlying mechanisms. However, our analysis did not find conclusive evidence linking an earlier diagnosis of asthma with heightened risks of SA and GDM, nor did it reveal a significant interaction between asthma and either preterm birth or preeclampsia."
"These findings suggest that previous observational research may have been influenced by confounding variables," they concluded.
Reference:
Han, Xinyu, et al. "Asthma and Risk of Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes: a Mendelian Randomization Study." Heliyon, vol. 10, no. 13, 2024, pp. e33857.
MSc. Biotechnology
Medha Baranwal joined Medical Dialogues as an Editor in 2018 for Speciality Medical Dialogues. She covers several medical specialties including Cardiac Sciences, Dentistry, Diabetes and Endo, Diagnostics, ENT, Gastroenterology, Neurosciences, and Radiology. She has completed her Bachelors in Biomedical Sciences from DU and then pursued Masters in Biotechnology from Amity University. She has a working experience of 5 years in the field of medical research writing, scientific writing, content writing, and content management. She can be contacted at  editorial@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751
Dr Kamal Kant Kohli-MBBS, DTCD- a chest specialist with more than 30 years of practice and a flair for writing clinical articles, Dr Kamal Kant Kohli joined Medical Dialogues as a Chief Editor of Medical News. Besides writing articles, as an editor, he proofreads and verifies all the medical content published on Medical Dialogues including those coming from journals, studies,medical conferences,guidelines etc. Email: drkohli@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751