Can des risk be passed on?

Certain risks associated with prenatal exposure to diethylstilbestrol (DES) may be carried over to the next generation, according to results of a study of 463 women whose mothers had been exposed to DES prenatally and 330 whose mothers had not been exposed to the drug. (1) Daughters of DES-exposed women began having regular menstrual periods at a later age than others (mean, 16.2 vs. 15.8 years), had had fewer live births (mean, 1.6 vs. 1.9) and had higher odds of reporting that their menstrual periods were usually irregular (odds ratio, 1.5). The two groups had similar odds of having experienced amenorrhea or infertility, having been pregnant, having had a live birth and having had an adverse birth outcome (miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, stillbirth, neonatal death or hydatidiform mole). The analysts acknowledge that many women in the study cohort, who were largely younger than 25 and unmarried, had not yet attempted to start families, and the findings are therefore preliminary. By the same token, they point out that the findings are "consistent with speculation that DES exposure during a critical window in human development results in heritable changes in gene function."

(1.) Titus-Ernstoff L et al., Menstrual and reproductive characteristics of women whose mothers were exposed in utero to diethylstilbestrol (DES), International Journal of Epidemiology, 2006, 35(4):862-868.

FYI is compiled and written by Dore Hollander; executive editor of Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health.