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Effect modification of FADS2 polymorphisms on the association between breastfeeding and intelligence: results from a collaborative meta-analysis

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-19, 23:17 authored by Hartwig, FP, Davies, NM, Horta, BL, Ahluwalia, TS, Bisgaard, H, Bonnelykke, K, Caspi, A, Moffitt, TE, Poulton, R, Sajjad, A, Tiemeier, HW, Dalmau-Bueno, A, Guxens, M, Bustamante, M, Santa-Marina, L, Parker, N, Paus, T, Pausova, Z, Lauritzen, L, Schnurr, TM, Michaelsen, KF, Hansen, T, Wendy OddyWendy Oddy, Pennell, CE, Warrington, NM, Davey Smith, G, Victora, CG
Background: Accumulating evidence suggests that breastfeeding benefits children's intelligence, possibly due to long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs) present in breast milk. Under a nutritional adequacy hypothesis, an interaction between breastfeeding and genetic variants associated with endogenous LC-PUFAs synthesis might be expected. However, the literature on this topic is controversial.

Methods: We investigated this gene × environment interaction through a collaborative effort. The primary analysis involved >12 000 individuals and used ever breastfeeding, FADS2 polymorphisms rs174575 and rs1535 coded assuming a recessive effect of the G allele, and intelligence quotient (IQ) in Z scores.

Results: There was no strong evidence of interaction, with pooled covariate-adjusted interaction coefficients (i.e. difference between genetic groups of the difference in IQ Z scores comparing ever with never breastfed individuals) of 0.12[(95% confidence interval (CI): -0.19; 0.43] and 0.06 (95% CI: -0.16; 0.27) for the rs174575 and rs1535 variants, respectively. Secondary analyses corroborated these results. In studies with ≥5.85 and <5.85 months of breastfeeding duration, pooled estimates for the rs174575 variant were 0.50 (95% CI: -0.06; 1.06) and 0.14 (95% CI: -0.10; 0.38), respectively, and 0.27 (95% CI: -0.28; 0.82) and -0.01 (95% CI: -0.19; 0.16) for the rs1535 variant.

Conclusions: Our findings did not support an interaction between ever breastfeeding and FADS2 polymorphisms. However, subgroup analysis suggested that breastfeeding may supply LC-PUFAs requirements for cognitive development if breastfeeding lasts for some (currently unknown) time. Future studies in large individual-level datasets would allow properly powered subgroup analyses and further improve our understanding on the breastfeeding × FADS2 interaction.

History

Publication title

International Journal of Epidemiology

Pagination

1-13

ISSN

0300-5771

Department/School

Menzies Institute for Medical Research

Publisher

Oxford Univ Press

Place of publication

Great Clarendon St, Oxford, England, Ox2 6Dp

Rights statement

Copyright The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Epidemiological Association. 1

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Nutrition

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