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Pregnancy
Asthma during pregnancy is associated with low birth weight, but the mechanism is not known. To investigate the relationship, Murphy and coworkers
recruited 138 pregnant women with asthma and 44 pregnant women without asthma. Compared with the control group, pregnant women with asthma who did not use inhaled glucocorticoids give birth to lighter female infants (3,095 versus 3,528 g). The birth weight of male infants was equivalent in control subjects and pregnant women with asthma. The presence of a female fetus was associated with increased levels of circulating monocytes in mothers, decreased levels of 11ß-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 in the placenta, decreased fetal plasma estriol, and a trend toward increased fetal plasma cortisol. The authors conclude that a female fetus has an adverse effect on the immune system of a pregnant woman with asthma, which results in reduced fetal growth in mothers not receiving inhaled glucocorticoids.
1 Citation displayed.
Maternal Asthma Is Associated with Reduced Female Fetal Growth
- Vanessa E. Murphy, Peter G. Gibson, Warwick B. Giles, Tamas Zakar, Roger Smith, Andrew M. Bisits, Carolyn G. Kessell, and Vicki L. Clifton
Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 168: 1317 -1323. First published online as doi:10.1164/rccm.200303-374OC
[Abstract]
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