Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Jun:269:113977.
doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2024.113977. Epub 2024 Feb 23.

The Impact of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure on Longitudinal Growth, Nutritional Status, and Insulin-Like Growth Factor 1 in Early Childhood in Leyte, the Philippines

Christopher V Barry  1 , Stavroula A Chrysanthopoulou  2 , Veronica Tallo  3 , Blanca Jarilla  3 , Zorimel Vargas  4 , Emily McDonald  5 , Fusun Gundogan  6 , Jennifer F Friedman  7
Affiliations

The Impact of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure on Longitudinal Growth, Nutritional Status, and Insulin-Like Growth Factor 1 in Early Childhood in Leyte, the Philippines

Christopher V Barry et al. J Pediatr. 2024 Jun.

Abstract

Objective: To assess the impact and potential mechanistic pathways of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) on longitudinal growth and nutritional status in early childhood.

Study design: A cohort of 296 mother-infant dyads (32% with PAE vs 68% unexposed) were recruited in Leyte, the Philippines, and followed from early gestation through 24 months of age. PAE was assessed using serum phosphatidylethanol (PEth) captured twice prenatally and in cord blood and supplemented with self-reported alcohol consumption. Linear mixed models were used to examine longitudinal effects of PAE on growth from birth through 2 years including key potential mediating factors (placental histopathology, and infant serum leptin and Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 [IGF-1]).

Results: After adjusting for potential confounders, we found that PAE was significantly associated with a delayed blunting of linear growth trajectories (height-for-age z-score, body length) and weight (weight-for-age z-score, body weight) that manifested between 4 and 6 months and continued through 12-24 months. PAE was also associated with a decreased rate of mid-upper-arm circumference growth from birth to 12 months, and a lower mean IGF-1 levels at birth and 6 months.

Conclusion: This study demonstrates a delayed impact of PAE on growth that manifested around 6 months of age, underscoring the importance of routine clinical monitoring in early childhood. Furthermore, the findings supported prior animal model findings that suggest a mechanistic role for IGF-1 in PAE-induced growth delay.

Keywords: IGF-1 in early childhood; growth; prenatal alcohol.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest Authors have indicated they have no conflicts of interest other incentives relevant to this article to disclose.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. May PA, Baete A, Russo J, Elliott AJ, Blankenship J, Kalberg WO, et al. Prevalence and Characteristics of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders. Pediatrics. 2014 Nov 1;134(5):855–66. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Subramoney S, Eastman E, Adnams C, Stein DJ, Donald KA. The Early Developmental Outcomes of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure: A Review. Front Neurol. 2018 Dec 18;9:1108. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hasken JM, Marais AS, de Vries M, Joubert B, Cloete M, Botha I, et al. Gestational age and birth growth parameters as early predictors of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2021 Aug 1;45(8):1624–38. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Carter RC, Jacobson JL, Molteno CD, Dodge NC, Meintjes EM, Jacobson SW. Fetal Alcohol Growth Restriction and Cognitive Impairment. Pediatrics. 2016 Aug 1;138(2):2. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Burd L Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder: Complexity from comorbidity. The Lancet. 2016 Mar 5;387(10022):926–7. - PubMed

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources

-