Abstract
Background: Breastfeeding is associated with short and long-term health benefits. Long-term effects might be mediated by epigenetic mechanisms, yet the literature on this topic is scarce. We performed the first epigenome-wide association study of infant feeding, comparing breastfed vs non-breastfed children. We measured DNA methylation in children from peripheral blood collected in childhood (age 7 years, N = 640) and adolescence (age 15–17 years, N = 709) within the Accessible Resource for Integrated Epigenomic Studies (ARIES) project, part of the larger Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) cohort. Cord blood methylation (N = 702) was used as a negative control for potential pre-natal residual confounding. Results: Two differentially-methylated sites presented directionally-consistent associations with breastfeeding at ages 7 and 15–17 years, but not at birth. Twelve differentially-methylated regions in relation to breastfeeding were identified, and for three of them there was evidence of directional concordance between ages 7 and 15–17 years, but not between birth and age 7 years. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that DNA methylation in childhood and adolescence may be predicted by breastfeeding, but further studies with sufficiently large samples for replication are required to identify robust associations.
Highlights
Breastfeeding is associated with short and long-term health benefits.Long-term effects might be mediated by epigenetic mechanisms, yet the literature on this topic is scarce.We performed the first epigenome-wide association study of infant feeding, comparing breastfed vs non-breastfed children
The subset included in our analysis was similar to the entire Accessible Resource for Integrated Epigenomic Studies (ARIES) dataset
Previous analyses indicated that ARIES is reasonably representative of the entire
Summary
Breastfeeding is associated with short and long-term health benefits.Long-term effects might be mediated by epigenetic mechanisms, yet the literature on this topic is scarce.We performed the first epigenome-wide association study of infant feeding, comparing breastfed vs non-breastfed children. Breastfeeding is associated with short and long-term health benefits. We measured DNA methylation in children from peripheral blood collected in childhood (age 7 years, N = 640) and adolescence (age 15–17 years, N = 709) within the Accessible. Twelve differentially-methylated regions in relation to breastfeeding were identified, and for three of them there was evidence of directional concordance between ages 7 and 15–17 years, but not between birth and age 7 years. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that DNA methylation in childhood and adolescence may be predicted by breastfeeding, but further studies with sufficiently large samples for replication are required to identify robust associations. Accumulating evidence indicates that breastfeeding may have long-term effects on health outcomes and human capital, as well as benefit maternal health [1]. Definitive conclusions on the long-term effects of breastfeeding cannot be drawn from the current epidemiological evidence
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