Association between offspring birth weight and atherosclerosis in middle aged men and women: British Regional Heart Study

L ow birth weight is associated with cardiovascular disease in adulthood, but the mechanisms underlying these associations remain unclear.1 One possibility is that poor intra-uterine nutrition “programmes” adult disease.1 An alternative hypothesis is that specific polymorphisms with pleiotrophic effects result in both small birth size and cardiovascular disease risk.2 Epidemiological evidence for a genetic role in the association comes from the recent finding that offspring birth weight predicts parental cardiovascular disease risk.3,4 As an infant’s low birth weight cannot determine its own parents’ risk of cardiovascular disease through intrauterine programming, a plausible explanation for these trans-generational associations is that of a common genetic link. In this paper we investigate the associations between offspring birth weight and parental carotid intima media thickness, an indicator of pre-clinical disease. Data were used from the Dewsbury and Maidstone cohort of the British Regional Heart Study. B-mode ultrasound measurements of carotid arteries, together with a detailed physical examination, blood tests, and research nurse interview were undertaken on 375 women and 425 men, aged 56–75 years. Full details of all measurements have been …