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Maternal Early‐Pregnancy Glucose Concentrations and Liver Fat Among School‐Age Children
Author(s) -
Geurtsen Madelon L.,
Wahab Rama J.,
Felix Janine F.,
Gaillard Romy,
Jaddoe Vincent W.V.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
hepatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.488
H-Index - 361
eISSN - 1527-3350
pISSN - 0270-9139
DOI - 10.1002/hep.31910
Subject(s) - offspring , pregnancy , medicine , body mass index , gestation , gestational diabetes , odds ratio , confounding , endocrinology , population , interquartile range , prospective cohort study , obstetrics , physiology , biology , genetics , environmental health
Background and Aims Gestational diabetes seems to be associated with offspring NAFLD. We hypothesized that maternal glucose concentrations across the full range may have persistent effects on offspring liver fat accumulation. Approach and Results In a multiethnic, population‐based, prospective cohort study among 2,168 women and their offspring, maternal early‐pregnancy glucose concentrations were measured at a median of 13.1 weeks’ gestation (95% CI, 9.6‐17.2). Liver fat fraction was measured at 10 years by MRI. NAFLD was defined as liver fat fraction ≥5.0%. We performed analyses among all mothers with different ethnic backgrounds and those of European ancestry only. The multiethnic group had a median maternal early‐pregnancy glucose concentration of 4.3 mmol/L (interquartile range, 3.9‐4.9) and a 2.8% (n = 60) prevalence of NAFLD. The models adjusted for child age and sex only showed that in the multiethnic group, higher maternal early‐pregnancy glucose concentrations were associated with higher liver fat accumulation and higher odds of NAFLD, but these associations attenuated into nonsignificance after adjustment for potential confounders. Among mothers of European ancestry only, maternal early‐pregnancy glucose concentrations were associated with increased odds of NAFLD (OR, 1.95; 95% CI, 1.32; 2.88, after adjustment for confounders) per 1‐mmol/L increase in maternal early‐pregnancy glucose concentration. These associations were not explained by maternal prepregnancy and childhood body mass index, visceral fat, and metabolic markers. Conclusions In this study, maternal early‐pregnancy glucose concentrations were only among mothers of European ancestry associated with offspring NAFLD. The associations of higher maternal early‐pregnancy glucose concentrations with offspring NAFLD may differ between ethnic groups.