A Closer Look On Daughter's Fertility

A recent study discovered and pinpointed a molecular mechanism by which a mother's smoking during and after pregnancy may cause a daughter's fertility to decline by as much as two thirds. As we all know, smoking cigarettes while pregnant is not advised and has been found in past research to reduce a woman's ability to have children who are fertile. The Canadian scientists who conducted the study claim that this is the first study to attempt to explain the biology underlying this impact. A team from Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto's Samuel Lunenfeld Study Institute conducted research on the effect of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), a consequence of smoking, on mouse fertility.

A low dose PAH combination was injected into three groups of female mice for the study. One group received PAH both before and after conception, another group received PAH only prior to conception, and the third group received PAH only while they were lactating. A fourth control group received no PAH but was mated concurrently with the others. According to the researchers, the total amount of PAH administered to each mouse over the course of the three-week injection cycle was equal to 25 packs of cigarettes. However, when the researchers looked at the quantity of eggs in their female progeny, they discovered roughly 70% fewer follicles accessible to develop eggs. The exposed mice did not generate fewer pups in their own litters.

According to the study's principal investigator, Dr. Andrea Jurisicova, exposure to PAHs before pregnancy and/or during breastfeeding, but not during pregnancy, can result in a reduction of the number of eggs in the ovaries of their female offspring by two-thirds. PAHs are environmental pollutants found in cigarette smoke, car exhaust, smoke produced by fossil fuel combustion, as well as in smoked food. The daughter's reproductive window will be smaller as a result.

The new information offers biological justification for epidemiological findings, including the previously noted decline in fertility among daughters of smokers. "If we do our job well and these results get excellent coverage thus this data could warn women of what they are doing to their unborn fetuses," says Dr. Norman Edelman of the American Lung Association. According to Dr. Amos Grunebaum of the Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York, while this study is intriguing, it doesn't really offer much because identical results have been found in prior studies. The most important takeaway from this is that women should stop smoking before they consider getting pregnant.

Jurisicova highlighted that prior research have demonstrated that women who smoke had better outcomes with "in vitro" fertilization one year after they quit smoking, despite the fact that the data do not specify the time interval between quitting smoking and healthier fertility in kids. Up to two weeks after receiving their final PAH injection, which is roughly comparable to three women's menstrual cycles, the mice in the current study gave birth. Even after learning the results of this particular research study, moms should be conscious of the risks that smoking can have to their future children.