Summary
A total of 222 pregnant women had repeated hormone assays between 20 weeks and delivery; 86 of the women were smokers. The maternal hormone balance appeared to be affected by smoking. Smoking affected maternal serum levels of hPL and hCG in pregnancies with a female fetus whereas maternal serum concentrations of oestriol and prolactin were affected in pregnancies with a male fetus. Significantly higher hCG levels were found in mothers who smoked and had a girl than in those who smoked and had a boy. On the basis of our results we feel that smoking mainly affects the placenta.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bergman LR, El-Khouri B (1987) Some exact tests of single cell frequencies in two-way contingency tables. Educat Psychol Measur 47:155–161
Bernstein L, Pike MC, Lobo RA, Depue RH, Ross RK, Henderson BE (1989) Cigarette smoking in pregnancy results in marked decrease in maternal hCG and oestriol levels. Br J Obstet Gynaecol 96:92–96
Bremme K, Eneroth P, Nilsson B (1982) Hormone levels in amniotic fluid and fetal sex. Gynecol Obstet Invest 14:245–262
Bremme K, Eneroth P, Nilsson B, Marsk L, Hagenfeldt L (1988) Outcome of pregnancy in relation to maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein levels in the second trimester. Gynecol Obstet Invest 26:191–205
Brown HL, Miller JM, Khawli O, Gabert HA (1988) Premature placental calcification in maternal cigarette smokers. Obstet Gynecol 71:914–917
Gennser G, Ohrlander S, Eneroth P (1977) Fetal cortisol and the initiation of labour in the human. In: The fetus and birth. Ciba Foundation Symposium 47. Elsevier Experta Medica, Amsterdam Oxford New York, pp 410–426
Gonzalez FA, Hobel CJ, Buster JE (1987) Fetal gender effects on maternal serum prolactin levels. J Reprod Med 32:21–24
Hays WL (1981) Statistics, 3rd edn. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York
Jansson A, Andersson K, Bjelke B, Eneroth P, Fuxe K (1990) Effect of postnatal exposure to cigarette smoke on hypothalamic catecholamine nerve terminal systems and on neuroendocrine function in the postnatal and adult male rat. Evidence for long term modulation of anterior pituitary function. Acta Physiol Scand (in press)
Lagerström M, Bremme K, Eneroth P, Magnusson D (1989) Sex related differences in school performance and IQ-test scores at ages 10 and 13 for children with low birth weight. Report no. 701 from the Department of Psychology, University of Stockholm
Levitz M, Young BK (1977) Estrogens in pregnancy. Vitam Horm 35:109–113
Lindblad A, Marsal K, Andersson KE (1988) Effect of nicotine on human fetal blood flow. Obstet Gynecol 72:371–382
McCoshen JA (1989) Fetal control of maternal prolactin production and bioactivity in utero. Am J Obstet Gynecol 160:322–327
Meyer MB (1978) How does maternal smoking affect birth weight and maternal weight gain? Am J Obstet Gynecol 131:888–893
Mochizuki M, Maruo T, Masuko K, Ohtosu T (1984) Effects of smoking on fetoplacental-maternal system during pregnancy. Am J Obstet Gynecol 149:413–420
Norman M, Eriksson CG, Eneroth P (1989) A comparison between the composition of maternal peripheral plasma and plasma collected from the retroplacental compartment at caesarean section. A study on protein and steroid hormones and binding proteins. Arch Gynecol Obstet 244:215–226
Nyboe Anderson A, Rönn B, Tjönneland A, Djursing H, Schiöler V (1984) Low maternal but normal fetal prolactin levels in cigarette smoking pregnant women. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand 63:237–239
Obikwe BC, Chard T (1982) Human chorionic gonadothropin levels in maternal blood in late pregnancy: relation to birthweight, sex and condition of the infant at birth. Br J Obstet Gynaecol 89:543–546
Picone TA, Allen LA, Olsen PN, Ferris ME (1982) Pregnancy outcome in North American women. II. Effects of diet, cigarette smoking, stress, and weight gain on placentas, and on neonatal physical and behavioral characteristics. Am J Clin Nut 36:1214–1224
Pinnette MG, Loftus-Brault K, Nardi DA, Rodis JF (1989) Maternal smoking and accelerated placental maturation. Obstet Gynecol 73:379–382
Rush D (1974) Examination of the relationship between birthweight, cigarette smoking during pregnancy and maternal weight gain. J Obstet Gynaecol Br Cwlth 81:746–752
Shu-rong Z, Bremme K, Eneroth P, Nordberg A (1982) The regulation in vitro of placental release of human chorionic gonadotropin, placental lactogen and prolactin: effects of an adrenergic betareceptor agonist and antagonist. Am J Obstet Gynecol 143:444–450
Targett ChS, Ratten GJ, Abell DA, Beischer NA (1977) The influence of smoking in intrauterine fetal growth and on maternal oestriol excretion. Aust NZJ Obstet Gynaec 17:126–130
Veen F van der, Fox H (1982) The effects of cigarette smoking on the human placenta: a light and electron microscopic study. Placenta 3:243–256
Velde WJ van der, Treffers PE (1985) Smoking in pregnancy: the influence on percentile birth weight mean birth weight, placental weight, menstrual age, perinatal mortality and maternal diastolic blood pressure. Gynecol Obstet Invest 19:57–63
Wertelecki W, Hoff Ch, Zansky S (1987) Maternal smoking: greater effect on males, fetal tobacco syndrome? Teratology 35:317–320
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bremme, K., Lagerström, M., Andersson, O. et al. Influences of maternal smoking and fetal sex on maternal serum oestriol, prolactin, hCG, and hPl levels. Arch Gynecol Obstet 247, 95–103 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02390666
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02390666