Associations of cord blood leptin and adiponectin with children's cognitive abilities

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.

Keywords: Adipocytokines; Children; Cognitive abilities; Intelligence quotient.

Conflict of interest statement

Competing financial interests: The authors declared no conflict of interest.

Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Figures

Figure 1.

Adjusted Restricted Cubic Polynomial Spline of Cord Blood Adiponectin Concentrations (on log2-scale), and Children’s Full-Scale IQ, Performance IQ at ages 3, 5 or 8 Years a a IQ was assessed at approximately age 3 years in the MIREC Study, and at ages 5 and 8 years in the HOME Study. In the MIREC Study, we adjusted for continuous variables maternal age, and length of breastfeeding; and categorical variables maternal education (high school graduate or less, tech school or some college, college graduate or above), pre-pregnancy BMI (<25, ≥25 kg/m2), parity number (0, 1, ≥2), marital status (married, unmarried), child’s sex (Male, Female), and race (White, other). In the HOME Study, we adjusted for continuous variables maternal age and IQ, children’s age at outcome assessment; and categorical variables maternal education (high school graduate or less, tech school or some college, college graduate or above), marital status (married, unmarried), pre-pregnancy BMI (2), parity number (0, 1, ≥2), duration of breastfeeding (never, 0-6 month, >6 month), child’s sex (Male, Female), and race (non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, other).

Figure 2.. Adjusted Restricted Cubic Polynomial Spline of Cord Blood Adiponectin Concentrations (on log2-scale) and Children’s Working Memory score at age 8 Yearsa

a In the HOME Study, we adjusted for continuous variables maternal age and IQ, children’s age at outcome assessment; and categorical variables maternal education (high school graduate or less, tech school or some college, college graduate or above), marital status (married, unmarried), pre-pregnancy BMI (<25, ≥25 kg/m2), parity number (0, 1, ≥2), duration of breastfeeding (never, 0-6 month, >6 month), child’s sex (Male, Female), and race (non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, other).