Round-up of respiratory disease and reproduction topics

This summary features the most important outcomes of 4 separate sessions which formed part of the topic ‘Respiratory diseases and reproduction’.

Fathers who are overweight before puberty, negatively influence forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV₁) and forced vital capacity (FVC) in their sons (lower capacity), and a lower adult height in their offspring. No associations have been identified before the age of 30 years, the FEV₁/FVC ratio, or in the maternal line [1].

Maternal asthma may be associated with several pregnancy complications. If expecting mothers experience asthma exacerbations, the risk of the baby being small for gestational age (SGA) and the need for a caesarean section increase [2]. Another interesting pattern is seen in pre-eclampsia; regardless of familial factors and confounders, severe pre-eclampsia is associated with the development of asthma in childhood [3,4].

To assess reproductive ageing in a simple manner, researchers have developed and validated a new reproductive ageing score (RAS). This tool consists of 3 questions and is able to distinguish non-menopausal women from peri- and postmenopausal women (area under the ROC curve 0.91). Distinguishing postmenopausal women from non-menopausal and perimenopausal women resulted in an area under the ROC curve of 0.85 [5,6].

Despite large individual variations, a clear association exists between reproductive factors and asthma/lung function as well as an interplay between endocrine and metabolic factors. Thus, it is not surprising that maintaining adequate levels of sex hormones has (overall) positive effects on lung function. Many associations between sex, reproduction, and airway function/disease need to be elucidated in the coming years, such as the role of different sex hormones on fertility and respiratory health, the interaction between hormones and hormonal status and metabolism and lifestyle and environment and chemicals/hormonal disruptors [7].

1. Lønnebotn M. Parental overweight and off-spring asthma and lung function. Nordic Lung Congress 2022, 01–03 June, Copenhagen, Denmark
2. Robijn AL, et al. ERJ Open Res. 2020 Dec 21;6(4):00295-2020.
3. Byberg KK, et al. Int J Epidemiol. 2022 Jun 13;51(3):749-758.
4. Almqvist Malmros C. Maternal asthma, pregnancy-related complications, and asthma in the off-spring. Nordic Lung Congress 2022, 01–03 June, Copenhagen, Denmark.
5. Triebner K, et al. PLoS One. 2020 Jun 30;15(6):e0235478.
6. Triebner K. Reproductive Ageing and the Lungs. Nordic Lung Congress 2022, 01–03 June, Copenhagen, Denmark.
7. Gomez Real F. Research on Gender, Reproduction and the Lungs-Overview and way forward. Nordic Lung Congress 2022, 01–03 June, Copenhagen, Denmark.

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