News
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Smoking and newborns
This is one of the main conclusions drawn from the article, the study by four scientists: Grazuleviciene R, Nieuwenhuijsen MJ, Danileviciute A, R and Buinauskiene Nadisauksiene J. Although the scope of this research study was the cohort of Kaunas (Lithuania), data extracted from it can be extrapolated to any other geographical area.
Methods
For this study examined the relationship between exposure to snuff smoke during pregnancy, GSTT1 and GSTM1 polymorphisms and the relationship with the baby's weight at birth. The study was conducted among 543 women in the cohort who had single births Kaunas. These associations were assessed with a multiple linear regression model, adjusted for gestational age, maternal education, marital status, body mass index, blood pressure and parity. The effects of individual genetic polymorphisms and maternal smoking on birth weight.
Results
It was found that the prevalence of GSTT1 null genotype is 17.1%, 46.0% for the GSTM1, and the carriers of the dual compound null genotype of 8.7% of the total population studied. The results suggest a reduction in birth weight of babies from mothers who smoke low to the genotype GSTT1 null and GSTM1 null genotype.
In short, the study shows the modifying effect of GSTT1 and GSTM1 genotypes on birth weight among women smokers, and evidence that the bearers of double null genotypes should be treated as a group more vulnerable to adverse outcomes pregnancy. The results of this study confirm the findings of other studies, in the sense that the identification of the group of sensitive subjects should be based both on the exposure of the environment and the polymorphism of genes.
What emerges from this study is that the GSTT1 and GSTM1 null genotypes, and are both present or only one, have the effect of change in the baby's weight at birth among women who smoke, even though their consumption of snuff is low.