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Pediatrics

Sex-specific associations between prenatal antibiotics exposure and offspring’s body mass index

International Journal of Obesity volume 44, pages 2044–2051 (2020)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Objective

Animal studies and epidemiological studies have shown that there is potential sex-specific sensitivity to the intrauterine environment in relation to the developmental programming of obesity. The objective of this study was to assess the sex-specific association between prenatal antibiotics exposure and body mass index (BMI) in offspring from 1 to 4 years.

Methods

A total of 10,163 mother–child pairs from the Medical Birth Registry in Xiamen, China, were included in this prospective cohort study. Data on prenatal antibiotics exposure were collected from the prescription database.

Results

A total of 4909 (48.3%) offspring had prenatal antibiotics exposure. The associations between prenatal antibiotics exposure and offspring’s BMI were significantly different among female offspring and male offspring (P for interaction: 0.034 at 1 year of age; 0.033 at 2 years of age; 0.020 at 3 years of age; and 0.021 at 4 years of age). In female offspring, prenatal antibiotic use was significantly associated with a higher BMI Z-score from 1 to 4 years old (difference in BMI Z-score: 0.11 [95% CI: 0.05–0.17] at 1 years of age; 0.10 [95% CI: 0.05–0.16] at 2 years of age; 0.14 [95% CI: 0.09–0.21] at 3 years of age; and 0.13 [95% CI: 0.07–0.19] at 4 years of age) after adjustment for confounder. Prenatal antibiotics use was not associated with offspring BMI Z-score from 1 to 4 years in male offspring.

Conclusions

The association of prenatal antibiotics exposure and BMI Z-score from 1 to 4 years old may differ by sex of offspring.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all the doctors, nurses, technicians, and patients involved in their dedication to the study.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Mingzhu Lin, Haiqu Song

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Xiamen Diabetes Institute, Xiamen, China

    Mingzhu Lin, Haiqu Song, Wei Liu, Weijuan Su, Fangfang Yan, Bingkun Huang, Yuxian Zhang, Shunhua Wang, Fuping Lv, Xuejun Li & Xiulin Shi

  2. Department of Endocrinology and Diabetes, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University, Xiamen, China

    Mingzhu Lin, Haiqu Song, Wei Liu, Weijuan Su, Fangfang Yan, Bingkun Huang, Yuxian Zhang, Shunhua Wang, Fuping Lv, Xuejun Li & Xiulin Shi

  3. Xiamen Clinical Medical Center for Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Xiamen, China

    Mingzhu Lin, Haiqu Song, Xuejun Li & Xiulin Shi

  4. Fujian Province Key Laboratory of Diabetes Translational Medicine, Xiamen, China

    Mingzhu Lin, Haiqu Song, Xuejun Li & Xiulin Shi

Authors
  1. Mingzhu Lin
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  3. Wei Liu
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Contributions

ML, HS, and XS designed and performed the data analysis and drafted the paper. WL and WS conceived this study. FY, BH, YZ, SW, and FL collected data. XL and XS critically reviewed the paper for important intellectual content. All authors contributed significantly to the data analysis and reviewed and approved the final paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xiulin Shi.

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Lin, M., Song, H., Liu, W. et al. Sex-specific associations between prenatal antibiotics exposure and offspring’s body mass index. Int J Obes 44, 2044–2051 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-020-0629-0

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