Bone trait ranking in the population is not established during antenatal growth but is robustly established in the first postnatal year

Abstract

Efforts to understand the pathophysiology of bone fragility must focus on bone traits during growth. We hypothesized that variance in individual trait ranking in the population distribution is established by genetic factors and is reflected in foetal trait ranking in early pregnancy, but intrauterine factors modify trait ranking in late pregnancy, followed by the reinstating of this ranking during the first postnatal year. Thus, relations with paternal factors are present in early pregnancy but are then lost and subsequently reinstated postnatal. We recruited 399 healthy pregnant women aged 20-42 years from The Mercy Hospital for Woman in Melbourne, Australia. Foetal femur length (FL) and kn..