Estonian Biobank Research Team

INTRODUCTION: Cesarean section (CS) is the most common gynecological surgery globally, with rates increasing in many developed countries. In Estonia, the CS rate rose from 6.4% in 1992 to 20.6% in 2021. While CS can be lifesaving when medic…

BACKGROUND: Hormonal contraceptives (HCs) are widely used and have well-documented population-level statistics. Previous studies with short follow-ups have focussed on individual HC use and side effects. However, the same aspects over longe…

STUDY QUESTION: Can a large-scale genome-wide association study (GWAS) meta-analysis identify genomic risk loci and likely involved genes for female genital tract (FGT) polyps, provide insights into the biological mechanism underlying their…

Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) may help inform the etiology of infertility. Here, we perform GWAS meta-analyses across seven cohorts in up to 42,629 cases and 740,619 controls and identify 25 genetic risk loci for male and female i…

Endometriosis is a complex disease, and many genetic and environmental risk factors contribute to disease risk. The genetic risk of endometriosis has been well characterized in genome-wide association studies. While few physiological risk f…

Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) may help inform treatments for infertility, whose causes remain unknown in many cases. Here we present GWAS meta-analyses across six cohorts for male and female infertility in up to 41,200 cases and 6…

Bleeding in early pregnancy and postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) bear substantial risks, with the former closely associated with pregnancy loss and the latter being the foremost cause of maternal death, underscoring the severe impact on maternal…

BACKGROUND: Endometriosis, defined as the presence of endometrial-like tissue outside of the uterus, is one of the most prevalent gynecological disorders. Although different theories have been proposed, its pathogenesis is not clear. Novel …

BACKGROUND: Copy-number variations (CNVs) have been associated with rare and debilitating genomic disorders (GDs) but their impact on health later in life in the general population remains poorly described. METHODS: Assessing four modes of…

The timing of parturition is crucial for neonatal survival and infant health. Yet, its genetic basis remains largely unresolved. We present a maternal genome-wide meta-analysis of gestational duration (n = 195,555), identifying 22 associate…

STUDY QUESTION: Can we identify genetic variants associated with ectopic pregnancy by undertaking the first genome-wide association study (GWAS) leveraging two large-scale biobank initiatives? SUMMARY ANSWER: We identified two novel genome…

STUDY QUESTION: Do the spectrum and prevalence of comorbidities of endometriosis and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) overlap? SUMMARY ANSWER: Despite several overlapping symptoms, the most significantly associated comorbidities of endometri…