Investigating the Effects of Antenatal Maternal Anaemia on Brain Structure in 6-Year-Old South African Children: A Neuroimaging Cohort Study
Motivation: It is unknown whether recent findings linking antenatal maternal anaemia with altered brain structure in toddlers persist to later childhood. Goal(s): This study aimed to determine whether associations of antenatal maternal anaemia with smaller corpus callosum, putamen, and caudate nucleus volumes described in 2–3-year-olds remain at age 6-7 years in the same cohort. Approach: Linear modeling was used to investigate associations between antenatal maternal anaemia status, maternal haemoglobin concentrations, and child brain volumes. Results: Antenatal maternal anaemia was associated with smaller volumes of the corpus callosum and caudate nucleus in school-age children, with comparable adjusted volume differences and coefficients to findings in toddlers. Impact: Evidence that associations of maternal anaemia with brain volumes are consistent and persist from age 2-3 years through to age 6-7 years supports the importance of optimizing antenatal maternal health and reinforces these brain regions as a future research focus.
Authors
- Catherine J. Wedderburn (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4887-1644)
- Nadia Hoffman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7269-1416)
- Annerine Roos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6487-3159)
- Steven E. Williams (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7266-2084)
- Simone Williams
- Marilyn T. Lake (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6056-2078)
- Dan Joseph Stein (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7218-7810)
- Jessica E. Ringshaw (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6885-8351)
- Kirsten A. Donald (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0276-9660)
- Heather Joy Zar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9046-759X)
- Katherine L. Narr (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9396-7936)
- Charmaine N. Nyakonda (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2000-5469)
- Shantanu H. Joshi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1287-7005)
- Layla Bradford
- Chanelle Hendrikse
- Tiffany Burd
Publication Details
- Journal
- Proceedings on CD-ROM - International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. Scientific Meeting and Exhibition/Proceedings of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Scientific Meeting and Exhibition
- Published
- 2024-11-26
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.58530/2024/2544
- Primary Topic
- Neonatal and fetal brain pathology
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00