Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health logoLink to Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
. 2001 Aug;55(8):583–587. doi: 10.1136/jech.55.8.583

Do genetic factors contribute to the association between birth weight and blood pressure?

K Christensen 1, H Stovring 1, M McGue 1
PMCID: PMC1731964  PMID: 11449017

Abstract

OBJECTIVES—To evaluate whether genetic factors contribute to the association between low birth weight and increased blood pressure among adolescents.
DESIGN—Historical cohort study of twin pairs. It was evaluated whether (1) a negative association between birth weight and systolic blood pressure was found in the overall twin sample and (2) whether the intrapair difference in birth weight correlated with the intrapair difference in systolic blood pressure—thereby controlling for the effect of genetic factors (all in monozygotic and on average half in dizygotic pairs).
SETTING—The Minnesota Twin Family Study.
PARTICIPANTS—1311 pairs of adolescent twins.
MAIN RESULTS—A negative association between birth weight and systolic blood pressure was retrieved in the overall sample. The regression coefficient after controlling for current weight was −1.88 mm Hg/kg (SE 0.61), which corresponds to results from previous studies of singleton adolescents. The regression coefficient fell to −0.64 mm Hg/kg (SE 0.86) when the intrapair analyses were used. The largest reduction was observed among monozygotic twins: from −2.44 mm Hg/kg (SE 0.75) in the overall monozygotic twin sample to −1.06 mm Hg/kg (SE 1.14) in the analyses of the within monozygotic pair differences.
CONCLUSION—The association between low birth weight and increased blood pressure later in life is well established. "The fetal programming hypothesis" suggests that the association is caused by intrauterine malnutrition while a new hypothesis "the fetal insulin hypothesis" proposes that genetically determined insulin resistance also contributes significantly to the association. A recent twin study of middle aged twins showed no evidence for an influence of genetic factors while this larger study provides support for the fetal insulin hypothesis: the association between birth weight and blood pressure attenuated among adolescents when genetic factors were controlled. Together this suggests an important contribution of genetic factors to the association between fetal growth and systolic blood pressure in adolescence.


Keywords: blood pressure; birth weight; twins

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (160.7 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Dunger D. B., Ong K. K., Huxtable S. J., Sherriff A., Woods K. A., Ahmed M. L., Golding J., Pembrey M. E., Ring S., Bennett S. T. Association of the INS VNTR with size at birth. ALSPAC Study Team. Avon Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood. Nat Genet. 1998 May;19(1):98–100. doi: 10.1038/ng0598-98. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Dwyer T., Blizzard L., Morley R., Ponsonby A. L. Within pair association between birth weight and blood pressure at age 8 in twins from a cohort study. BMJ. 1999 Nov 20;319(7221):1325–1329. doi: 10.1136/bmj.319.7221.1325. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Hattersley A. T., Tooke J. E. The fetal insulin hypothesis: an alternative explanation of the association of low birthweight with diabetes and vascular disease. Lancet. 1999 May 22;353(9166):1789–1792. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(98)07546-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Hopper J. L., Seeman E. The bone density of female twins discordant for tobacco use. N Engl J Med. 1994 Feb 10;330(6):387–392. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199402103300603. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Iacono W. G., Carlson S. R., Taylor J., Elkins I. J., McGue M. Behavioral disinhibition and the development of substance-use disorders: findings from the Minnesota Twin Family Study. Dev Psychopathol. 1999 Fall;11(4):869–900. doi: 10.1017/s0954579499002369. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Law C. M., Shiell A. W. Is blood pressure inversely related to birth weight? The strength of evidence from a systematic review of the literature. J Hypertens. 1996 Aug;14(8):935–941. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Leon D. A., Lithell H. O., Vâgerö D., Koupilová I., Mohsen R., Berglund L., Lithell U. B., McKeigue P. M. Reduced fetal growth rate and increased risk of death from ischaemic heart disease: cohort study of 15 000 Swedish men and women born 1915-29. BMJ. 1998 Jul 25;317(7153):241–245. doi: 10.1136/bmj.317.7153.241. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Leon D. A. Twins and fetal programming of blood pressure. Questioning the role of genes and maternal nutrition. BMJ. 1999 Nov 20;319(7221):1313–1314. doi: 10.1136/bmj.319.7221.1313. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Lucas A., Fewtrell M. S., Cole T. J. Fetal origins of adult disease-the hypothesis revisited. BMJ. 1999 Jul 24;319(7204):245–249. doi: 10.1136/bmj.319.7204.245. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Nilsson P. M., Ostergren P. O., Nyberg P., Söderström M., Allebeck P. Low birth weight is associated with elevated systolic blood pressure in adolescence: a prospective study of a birth cohort of 149378 Swedish boys. J Hypertens. 1997 Dec;15(12 Pt 2):1627–1631. doi: 10.1097/00004872-199715120-00064. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Phillips D. I. Twin studies in medical research: can they tell us whether diseases are genetically determined? Lancet. 1993 Apr 17;341(8851):1008–1009. doi: 10.1016/0140-6736(93)91086-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Poulter N. R., Chang C. L., MacGregor A. J., Snieder H., Spector T. D. Association between birth weight and adult blood pressure in twins: historical cohort study. BMJ. 1999 Nov 20;319(7221):1330–1333. doi: 10.1136/bmj.319.7221.1330. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Taylor S. J., Whincup P. H., Cook D. G., Papacosta O., Walker M. Size at birth and blood pressure: cross sectional study in 8-11 year old children. BMJ. 1997 Feb 15;314(7079):475–480. doi: 10.1136/bmj.314.7079.475. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Williams S., Poulton R. Twins and maternal smoking: ordeals for the fetal origins hypothesis? A cohort study. BMJ. 1999 Apr 3;318(7188):897–900. doi: 10.1136/bmj.318.7188.897. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES