The effect of smoking in pregnancy on maternal serum inhibin A levels

Abstract
To assess the effect of smoking on maternal serum, second‐trimester inhibin A levels, we studied a database of 1277 women undergoing antenatal serum screening. There were 75 smokers, 1008 non‐smokers and 194 women in whom smoking status was undetermined. All groups were matched for age, gestation and parity. The median level of inhibin A in smokers was 1·47 multiples of the normal gestation‐specific median (MOM) as compared with 1·01 MOM in non‐smokers and 0·95 MOM in the undetermined group. The increase was highly statistically significant (p<0·0001, Wilcoxon rank sum test, two‐tail). On the basis of these results we conclude that if inhibin A is used as a marker, adjustment for maternal smoking status may be necessary. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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