| Title: | Birth Weight, Cardiovascular Health, and Microvascular Complications in Individuals with Diabetes Mellitus |
| Journal: | Diabetes & Metabolism Journal |
| Published: | 23 May 2025 |
| Pubmed: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40414620/ |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.4093/dmj.2024.0518 |
| URL: | https://www.e-dmj.org/upload/pdf/dmj-2024-0518.pdf |
Publication 15235
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Abstract
BACKGRUOUND: Diabetes often leads to microvascular complications, including nephropathy, neuropathy, and retinopathy. Understanding the impact of early-life factors like birth weight and modifiable behaviors such as cardiovascular health (CVH) is essential for preventing these complications.</p>
METHODS: We included 11,515 participants with diabetes but without microvascular complications at baseline from the UK Biobank Study. CVH was evaluated using the Life's Essential 8 score. Independent and joint associations of birth weight and CVH with microvascular complications were analyzed using Cox proportional hazard models. Two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses estimated unconfounded associations between birth weight and microvascular complications.</p>
RESULTS: Over a median follow-up of 13.1 years, 3,010 microvascular complications occurred. Compared with normal birth weight (2.5-4.0 kg), low birth weight (LBW; <2.5 kg) was associated with 15% higher risk of diabetic nephropathy (hazard ratio [HR], 1.15; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01 to 1.31), but not with neuropathy and retinopathy. High birth weight (>4.0 kg) was not associated with the risk of diabetic microvascular complications. MR analysis confirmed the association between LBW and nephropathy. Adherence to high CVH was associated with a reduced risk of microvascular complications compared to low CVH, regardless of birth weight. The HRs were 0.70 (95% CI, 0.59 to 0.84) for the LBW group and 0.74 (95% CI, 0.68 to 0.80) for the group with birth weight ≥2.5 kg (P for interaction=0.69).</p>
CONCLUSION: LBW was an independent risk factor for nephropathy among diabetic patients. However, the detrimental effects of LBW might be mitigated by improvement in CVH.</p>
18 Keywords
- Adult
- Aged
- Birth Weight
- Cardiovascular Diseases
- Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2
- Diabetic Angiopathies
- Diabetic Nephropathies
- Diabetic Retinopathy
- Female
- Follow-Up Studies
- Humans
- Infant, Low Birth Weight
- Infant, Newborn
- Male
- Mendelian Randomization Analysis
- Middle Aged
- Proportional Hazards Models
- Risk Factors
11 Authors
- Chaolun Yu
- Anping Feng
- Xia Zou
- Siqi Chen
- Lingyan Dai
- Qingmei Cui
- Xiaojing Kuang
- Gaoli She
- Ying Ma
- Haixia Guan
- Jie Li
Enabling scientific discoveries that improve human health