英國一項研究顯示，早產出生的女性，在懷孕后出現早產的風險要高于其他人，這說明早產可能受到母系遺傳的影響，其風險可以由媽媽傳給女兒。

英國阿伯丁大學研究人員在新一期美國《產科學與婦科學》雜志上報告說，他們調查了阿伯丁地區從1948年到2008年間的生育記錄，在分析其中兩萬多對母女的生育情況后發現，那些自己是早產出生、或是母親在生育其他兄弟姐妹時有過早產經歷的女性，懷孕后頭胎出現早產的風險要比其他人高出60％，頭胎之后的早產風險也仍然要高出50％。

領導這項研究的巴塔查里亞博士說，早產是導致嬰兒死亡或出現長期疾病的重要原因，但現在對天然早產原因的了解還不夠深入，本次研究說明其背后可能存在母系遺傳的影響，今后的研究將可以在此基礎上進一步確定相關的基因。

上海勁馬生物（）推薦原文出處：

Obstetrics & Gynecology.  doi: 10.1097/AOG.0b013e3181dffcdb

Inherited Predisposition to Spontaneous Preterm Delivery
Bhattacharya, Sohinee; Amalraj Raja, Edwin; Ruiz Mirazo, Eider; Campbell, Doris M.; Lee, Amanda J.; Norman, Jane E.; Bhattacharya, Siladitya

OBJECTIVE: To assess inherited predisposition to spontaneous preterm delivery.

METHODS: In this retrospective cohort study, intergenerational data on deliveries in mother-daughter pairs were analyzed from the Aberdeen Maternity Neonatal Databank using multilevel logistic regression. The study included an exposed cohort of all women born spontaneously preterm or whose mothers had experienced at least one spontaneous preterm delivery （at 24-37 weeks of gestation）. The unexposed cohort included women who were born at term （after 37 weeks of gestation） or those whose mothers had never experienced any spontaneous preterm deliveries （24-37 weeks of gestation）. The primary outcome was spontaneous preterm delivery in the daughters' pregnancies. Results are shown as adjusted odds ratios （ORs） and 95% confidence intervals （CIs）.

RESULTS: We identified 22,343 pregnancies occurring in 13,845 daughters born to 11,576 mothers. Women who were born spontaneously preterm had significantly higher odds of delivering preterm babies （OR 1.49, 95% CI 1.12-1.99）. A stronger association was seen when the analysis was restricted to nulliparous women who had been born spontaneously preterm （OR 1.60, 95% CI 1.16-2.21）. Other predictors of a woman having a spontaneous preterm delivery were age at delivery younger than 20 years （OR 1.67, 95% CI 1.43-1.94）, lower socioeconomic status （OR 1.22, 95% CI 1.04-1.44）, smoking more than 10 cigarettes per day （OR 1.47, 95% CI 1.27-1.71）, body mass index 19 kg/m2 or less （OR 1.48, 95% CI 1.24-1.77）, previous preterm delivery （OR 2.51, 95% CI 1.71-3.66）. The risk of a woman delivering spontaneously preterm was increased even if her mother had a history of spontaneous preterm delivery in any other pregnancy （OR 1.35, 95% CI 1.12-1.63）. The absolute risk of spontaneously delivering preterm in women who were born preterm was 9% as opposed to 6.2% in those who were born full-term. This gives an increase in risk of spontaneous preterm birth of 2.8% in women who were born spontaneously preterm.

CONCLUSION: Women born spontaneously preterm or with siblings delivered in a similar manner have an increased risk of spontaneous preterm delivery in their own pregnancies.