Maternal smoking proxy linked to offspring heart disease
A genetic proxy for maternal smoking was associated with offspring heart failure and coronary artery disease, with odds ratios of 3.84 and 4.50, respectively.
Researchers analysed large human genetic datasets, predominantly from people of European ancestry, in a Mendelian randomization study. This method uses genetic differences to assess links between exposures and health. They used offspring genetic variants associated with reported maternal smoking around birth in UK Biobank as a proxy for that exposure.
The proxy was associated with higher odds of heart failure, coronary artery disease, narrowing of the heart’s arteries, and atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat. It was not associated with heart attack. An odds ratio above one indicates higher odds. Links with heart failure and coronary artery disease remained after accounting for whether offspring started smoking. Further analyses suggested that weight relative to height, blood fat levels and susceptibility to type 2 diabetes may partly account for the associations.
Why it matters
Cardiovascular disease threatens health in later life. The study explored metabolic pathways that may connect an exposure around birth with offspring cardiovascular risk.
Caveats
The smoking measure was a genetic proxy based on offspring genotypes, not a direct measure of exposure. The associations do not establish causation, and the datasets were predominantly of European ancestry.
- Maternal smoking around birth
- Heart failure
- Coronary artery disease
- Atrial fibrillation
- Type 2 diabetes
- Humans
The paper
Zhangzhou Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University; The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine
Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 13 Oct 2026
