Relatively Low Maternal Aflatoxin Exposure Is Associated with Small-for-Gestational-Age but Not with Other Birth Outcomes in a Prospective Birth Cohort Study of Nepalese Infants

Johanna Y Andrews-Trevino; Patrick Webb; Gerald Shively; Beatrice L Rogers; Kedar Baral; Dale Davis; Krishna Paudel; Ashish Pokharel; Robin Shrestha; Jia-Sheng Wang; Shibani Ghosh

doi:10.1093/jn/nxz122

Relatively Low Maternal Aflatoxin Exposure Is Associated with Small-for-Gestational-Age but Not with Other Birth Outcomes in a Prospective Birth Cohort Study of Nepalese Infants

J Nutr. 2019 Oct 1;149(10):1818-1825. doi: 10.1093/jn/nxz122.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA.
² Department of Agricultural Economics, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA.
³ Department of Community Health Sciences, Patan Academy of Health Sciences, Lalitpur, Nepal.
⁴ Helen Keller International-Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal.
⁵ Kanti Children's Hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal.
⁶ Department of Environmental Health Science, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA.

PMID: 31198947
DOI: 10.1093/jn/nxz122

Abstract

Background: Exposure to aflatoxin has garnered increased attention as a possible contributor to adverse birth outcomes.

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the relation of maternal aflatoxin exposure with adverse birth outcomes such as birth weight, birth length, anthropometric z scores, low birth weight (LBW), small-for-gestational-age (SGA), stunting, and preterm birth (PTB).

Methods: This study used maternal and newborn data from the AflaCohort Study, an ongoing birth cohort study in Banke, Nepal (n = 1621). Data on aflatoxin B1 (AFB1)-lysine adducts in maternal serum were collected once during pregnancy (at mean ± SD: 136 ± 43 d of gestation). Maternal serum AFB1-lysine adduct concentration was measured via HPLC. Linear and logistic regression analyses were used to determine if maternal aflatoxin exposure was associated with 1) birth weight and length (primary outcomes) and 2) anthropometric z scores, LBW (weight <2.5 kg), SGA (weight <10th percentile for gestational age and sex), stunting at birth (length-for-age z score less than -2), or PTB (born <37 weeks of gestation) (secondary outcomes).

Results: The geometric mean of maternal serum AFB1-lysine adduct concentration was 1.37 pg/mg albumin (95% CI: 1.30, 1.44 pg/mg albumin). Twenty percent of infants were of LBW and 32% were SGA. Sixteen percent of infants were stunted at birth. In addition, 13% of infants were born preterm. In logistic multivariate regression models, mean maternal serum AFB1-lysine adduct concentrations were significantly associated with SGA (OR: 1.13; 95% CI: 1.00, 1.27; P < 0.05).

Conclusions: Findings from this study suggest a small but significant association between serum AFB1-lysine adduct concentrations in pregnant women and SGA. Maternal aflatoxin exposure was not associated with other birth outcomes. These results highlight the need for future research on a threshold level of aflatoxin exposure needed to produce detectable adverse birth outcomes. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT03312049.

Keywords: Nepal; aflatoxin; birth outcomes; length; preterm; small-for-gestational-age; weight.

Publication types

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Aflatoxin B1 / blood*
Aflatoxin B1 / toxicity*
Birth Weight
Cohort Studies
Female
Gestational Age
Humans
Infant, Low Birth Weight
Infant, Newborn
Infant, Small for Gestational Age*
Maternal Exposure*
Middle Aged
Nepal
Pregnancy
Pregnancy Outcome*
Premature Birth
Risk Factors
Young Adult

Substances

Aflatoxin B1

Associated data

ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT03312049