Artikel
FADS gene cluster modulates the effect of breastfeeding on asthma
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Veröffentlicht: | 20. September 2011 |
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Gliederung
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Background: The protective effect of breastfeeding on the development of asthma has been widely recognized, even if not all results have been consistent. We hypothesised this could be caused by individual genetic differences in the fatty acid metabolism determined by the FADS1 FADS2 gene cluster in the offspring. Therefore we evaluated the influence of the FADS1 FADS2 gene cluster polymorphisms on the association between breastfeeding and asthma.
Methods: The analysis was based on data (N=2336) from two German prospective birth cohort studies. Information on asthma and breastfeeding during the first six months was collected using questionnaires completed by the parents. Logistic regression modelling, adjusted for gender, maternal education level and study centre, was used to analyse the association between exclusive breastfeeding and ever having asthma stratified by genotype.
Results: In the stratified analyses, breastfeeding for three or four months after birth had a protective effect for hetero- and homozygous carriers of the minor allele (aOR between 0.39 (95%-CI: 0.18-0.82) and 0.43 (95%-CI: 0.21-0.90)). Interaction terms of breastfeeding with SNPs were significant and ranged from -1.11 (p-value: 0.019) to -1.18 (0.014). Moreover, hetero- and homozygous carriers of the minor allele which were exclusively breastfed for five or six months after birth had a reduced risk for asthma (0.35 (0.20-0.62) to 0.52 (0.30-0.88)) in the stratified analyses. For individuals carrying the major allele, breastfeeding showed no significant effect on the development of asthma.
Conclusions: The association between exclusive breastfeeding and asthma is modified by the genetic variants of FADS genotypes in children.