Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40813921›Full record

ArticleCommunications medicine2025

The genetic architecture of cervical length is shared with spontaneous preterm birth risk.

Hope M Wolf, Bradley T Webb, Jerome F Strauss, Adi L Tarca, Roberto Romero, Sonia S Hassan, Shawn J Latendresse, Tinnakorn Chaiworapongsa, Stanley Berry, Nardhy Gomez-Lopez and 2 more

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Communications medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Hope M WolfDepartment of Human and Molecular Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, VA, USA.
Bradley T WebbGenOmics, Bioinformatics, and Translational Research Center, Biostatistics and Epidemiology Division, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0576-5366
Jerome F StraussDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, VA, USA.
Adi L TarcaPerinatology Research Branch*, Division of Obstetrics and Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Division of Intramural Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Detroit, MI, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1712-7588
Roberto RomeroPerinatology Research Branch*, Division of Obstetrics and Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Division of Intramural Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Detroit, MI, USA.
Sonia S HassanDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Shawn J LatendresseDepartment of Psychology and Neuroscience, Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3109-5033
Tinnakorn ChaiworapongsaDepartments of Obstetrics and Gynecology & Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5108-3369
Stanley BerryDepartments of Obstetrics and Gynecology & Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA.
Nardhy Gomez-LopezDepartments of Obstetrics and Gynecology & Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3406-5262
Piya ChaemsaithongDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
Timothy P YorkDepartment of Human and Molecular Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, VA, USA. tpyork@vcu.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4068-4286

Funding

NICHD NIH HHS HHSN275201300006C
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSonographic cervical length is a powerful predictor of maternal risk for spontaneous preterm birth (sPTB). Twin and family studies have established a maternal genetic heritability for sPTB ranging from 13 to 20%, however, there is no corresponding estimate for the heritability of mid-trimester cervical length, or an understanding of how genetic factors contribute to cervical changes across pregnancy.

methodsThis study was based on a prospective longitudinal cohort of (N = 5,160) Black/African American women who underwent serial sonographic examination of the uterine cervix during pregnancy and were genotyped via next-generation low-pass whole genome sequencing.

resultsBivariate genetic correlations estimated using genome-wide complex trait analysis (GCTA) indicated that a large proportion of the genes influencing cervical change across pregnancy also influenced gestational duration. SNP-level associations were observed near genes involved in the progesterone, estrogen, and insulin signaling pathways.

conclusionsThese results suggest that a large proportion of genetic loci for preterm birth exert their influence through the process of cervical remodeling. Polygenic profiling of maternal genetic liability to cervical shortening could aid in the development of clinical risk assessment tools to identify high-risk women who may benefit from more frequent cervical length screening and earlier interventions to prevent preterm delivery.

Identifiers

PMID40813921
PMCPMC12354721

What Socratic holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.