A nested case-control study of prenatal vanadium exposure and low birthweight

STUDY QUESTION Is prenatal vanadium exposure associated with adverse birth outcomes? SUMMARY ANSWER The odds of low birthweight (LBW) are increased 2.23-fold in mothers with a urinary vanadium of ≥2.91 μg/g creatinine compared with that in mothers with a urinary vanadium of ≤1.42 μg/g creatinine. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY Human exposure to vanadium occurs through intake of food, water and polluted air. Vanadium has been suggested to have fetotoxicity and developmental toxicity in animal studies, and epidemiological studies have reported an association between a decrease in birthweight and vanadium exposure estimated from particulate matter. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION A nested case–control study involving 816 study participants (204 LBW cases and 612 matched controls) was conducted with data from the prospective Healthy Baby Cohort between 2012 and 2014 in the province of Hubei, China. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS Vanadium concentrations in 816 maternal urine samples collected before delivery [the median gestational age was 39 weeks (range 27–42 weeks)] were measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Information on the infants' birth outcomes was obtained from medical records. Conditional logistic regression was used to calculate the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE The median urinary vanadium concentration of the cases was much higher than that of the controls (3.04 ...
Source: Human Reproduction - Category: Reproduction Medicine Authors: Tags: Reproductive epidemiology Source Type: research