Associations of cord blood leptin and adiponectin with children's cognitive abilities
- DOI
- Language of the publication
- English
- Date
- 2018-10-25
- Type
- Article
- Author(s)
- Li, Nan
- Arbuckle, Tye E.
- Muckle, Gina
- Lanphear, Bruce P.
- Boivin, Michel
- Chen, Aimin
- Dodds, Linda
- Fraser, William D.
- Ouellet, Emmanuel
- Séguin, Jean R.
- Velez, Maria P.
- Yolton, Kimberly
- Braun, Joseph M.
- Publisher
- Elsevier
Abstract
Background Adipocytokines may play a role in fetal programming of neurodevelopment. We aimed to investigate the associations between cord blood adipocytokine concentrations and children’s intelligence test scores. Methods We used data from two ongoing pregnancy cohorts in North America: the Maternal-Infant Research on Environmental Chemicals (MIREC, n = 429) and Health Outcomes and Measures of the Environment (HOME, n = 183) Studies. Umbilical cord blood adipocytokine concentrations were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. We assessed children’s Intelligence Quotient (IQ) and its components using the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scales of Intelligence-III or Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-IV. We used linear regression and linear mixed models to estimate associations between log2-transformed adipocytokine concentrations and children’s IQ after adjusting for sociodemographic, perinatal, and child factors. Results After adjusting for covariates, cord blood adiponectin was positively associated with children’s full-scale IQ scores at age 3 years in the MIREC Study (β = 1.4, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.2, 2.5) and at ages 5 and 8 years in the HOME Study (β = 1.7, CI: −0.1, 3.5). Adiponectin was positively associated with performance IQ in both studies (MIREC: β = 2.0, CI: 0.7, 3.3; HOME: β = 2.2, CI: 0.5, 3.9). Adiponectin was positively associated with working memory composite scores at age 8 in the HOME Study (β = 3.1, CI: 1.0, 5.2). Leptin was not associated with children’s IQ in either study. Conclusions Cord blood adiponectin was associated with higher full-scale and performance IQ and working memory composite scores in children. Future studies are needed to explore the mechanisms underlying these associations.
Plain language summary
Health Canada is responsible for helping Canadians maintain and improve their health. Some research has suggested that the metabolic hormones leptin and adiponectin may play a role in child neurodevelopment; however, it is unknown whether the levels of these hormones in umbilical cord blood may be associated with the child’s IQ later in life. Data from two studies, the Canadian MIREC (Maternal-Infant Research on Environmental Chemicals) and American HOME (Health Outcomes and Measures of the Environment) studies were used to investigate this research question. Mothers and their singleton birth infants were included in this analysis, 429 from MIREC and 183 from HOME. Leptin and adiponectin were measured in umbilical cord blood samples and the child’s IQ was measured when the child was approximately 3 to 8 years of age. After adjusting for various factors, the study found that cord blood adiponectin was positively associated with child’s IQ at age 3 in MIREC and at ages 5 and 8 years in the HOME study. The hormone leptin was not associated with child IQ in either study. Future studies are needed to explore why this hormone may be associated with child IQ.
Subject
- Health,
- Health and safety