ArticleCirculation. Genomic and precision medicine2018
Birthweight, Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, and Cardiovascular Disease: Addressing the Barker Hypothesis With Mendelian Randomization.
Article in Circulation. Genomic and precision medicine, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 79 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
79 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 154 citations in OpenAlex.
- Methodological approaches, challenges, and opportunities in the application of Mendelian randomisation to lifecourse epidemiology: A systematic literature review.European journal of epidemiology · 2024Pooled it
- Appraising the Causal Role of Risk Factors in Coronary Artery Disease and Stroke: A Systematic Review of Mendelian Randomization Studies.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2023Pooled it
- Maternal and fetal genetic effects on birth weight and their relevance to cardio-metabolic risk factors.Nature genetics · 2019Pooled it
- Pooled it
- The Impact of Early-Life Growth on Long-Term Cardiometabolic and Neurocognitive Outcomes in High-Income Countries: A Neglected Public Health Problem.Nutrition reviews · 2026Review
- Article
- Birth Weight, Cardiovascular Health, and Microvascular Complications in Individuals with Diabetes Mellitus.Diabetes & metabolism journal · 2025Article
- Perinatal Outcomes of Chronic Abruption Oligohydramnios Sequence: A Multicenter Retrospective Observational Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Article
- The impact of maternal health and lifestyle on low birth weight: a prospective cohort study.Italian journal of pediatrics · 2025Article
- The Homeobox Transcription Factor CUX1 Coordinates Postnatal Epithelial Developmental Timing but Is Dispensable for Lung Organogenesis and Regeneration.American journal of respiratory cell and molecular biology · 2025Article
- Association Between Low Birth Weight and Dementia Risk: A Large-scale Prospective Study.Sichuan da xue xue bao. Yi xue ban = Journal of Sichuan University. Medical science edition · 2025Article
- Enhancing birth weight outcomes through improved antenatal care in West African countries: Evidence from propensity score matching analysis.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Investigating the association between season of birth and symptoms of depression and anxiety in adults.PLOS mental health · 2025Article
- Association of birth weight with type 2 diabetes mellitus and the mediating role of fatty acids traits: a two-step mendelian randomization study.Lipids in health and disease · 2024Article
- Disentangling the link between maternal influences on birth weight and disease risk in 36,211 genotyped mother-child pairs.Communications biology · 2024Article
- Birth weight influences cardiac structure, function, and disease risk: evidence of a causal association.European heart journal · 2024Article
- Effects of birth weight on body composition, physical fitness, and sarcopenia assessments in young Japanese women.PloS one · 2024Article
- The prevalence of gestational diabetes among underweight and normal weight women worldwide: a scoping review.Frontiers in clinical diabetes and healthcare · 2024Article
- Opposite causal effects of birthweight on myocardial infarction and atrial fibrillation and the distinct mediating pathways: a Mendelian randomization study.Cardiovascular diabetology · 2023Article
19 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundLow birthweight has been associated with a higher risk of hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D), and cardiovascular disease. The Barker hypothesis posits that intrauterine growth restriction resulting in lower birthweight is causal for these diseases, but causality is difficult to infer from observational studies.
methodsWe performed regression analyses to assess associations of birthweight with cardiovascular disease and T2D in 237 631 individuals from the UK Biobank. Further, we assessed the causal relationship of such associations using Mendelian randomization.
resultsIn the observational analyses, birthweight showed inverse associations with systolic and diastolic blood pressure (β, -0.83 and -0.26; per raw unit in outcomes and SD change in birthweight; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.90 to -0.75 and -0.31 to -0.22, respectively), T2D (odds ratio, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.79-0.87), lipid-lowering treatment (odds ratio, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.81-0.86), and coronary artery disease (hazard ratio, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.78-0.94), whereas the associations with adult body mass index and body fat (β, 0.04 and 0.02; per SD change in outcomes and birthweight; 95% CI, 0.03-0.04 and 0.01-0.02, respectively) were positive. The Mendelian randomization analyses indicated inverse causal associations of birthweight with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, 2-hour glucose, coronary artery disease, and T2D and positive causal association with body mass index but no associations with blood pressure.
conclusionsOur study indicates that lower birthweight, used as a proxy for intrauterine growth retardation, is causally related with increased susceptibility to coronary artery disease and T2D. This causal relationship is not mediated by adult obesity or hypertension.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.