ArticleClinical epigenetics2019
Duration of breastfeeding is associated with leptin (LEP) DNA methylation profiles and BMI in 10-year-old children.
Article in Clinical epigenetics, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
37 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 54 citations in OpenAlex.
- Breastfeeding association with DNA methylation in the pregnancy and childhood epigenetics (PACE) consortium.Clinical epigenetics · 2026Pooled it
- Epigenome-Wide Association of Infant Feeding and Changes in DNA Methylation from Birth to 10 Years.Nutrients · 2020Trial
- Promoting breastfeeding in Chinese women undergoing cesarean section based on the health belief model: A randomized controlled trial.Medicine · 2020Trial
- Lipedema and obesity: biological interactions, diagnostic challenges, and principles of interdisciplinary management - a narrative review.Adipocyte · 2026Review
- Interactions between nutrition and the epigenome: how can it be harnessed for public health?Future science OA · 2026Article
- Functional Foods as Modulators of Epigenetic Mechanisms Affecting Metabolic Health in Adolescence.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Longer Breastfeeding Is Associated With Healthier Body Mass Index Trajectories and Lower Risk of Overweight and Obesity in Youth Aged 9-12 Years.Pediatric obesity · 2026Article
- Epigenetics of Childhood Obesity.Hormone research in paediatrics · 2026Review
- Obesity: pathophysiology and therapeutic interventions.Molecular biomedicine · 2025Review
- From Pregnancy to Breastfeeding: The Role of Maternal Exercise in Preventing Childhood Obesity.Nutrients · 2025Review
- The interaction of breastfeeding and genetic factors on childhood obesity.European journal of obstetrics & gynecology and reproductive biology: X · 2024Review
- Risk of Fat Mass- and Obesity-Associated Gene-Dependent Obesogenic Programming by Formula Feeding Compared to Breastfeeding.Nutrients · 2024Review
- Exploring Maternal Diet-Epigenetic-Gut Microbiome Crosstalk as an Intervention Strategy to Counter Early Obesity Programming.Current issues in molecular biology · 2024Review
- Breastfeeding: science and knowledge in pediatric obesity prevention.Frontiers in medicine · 2024Article
- Maternal outcomes related to Genetic and epigenetic Variation in the oxytocin system: A scoping review.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2023Article
- Recent progress in epigenetics of obesity.Diabetology & metabolic syndrome · 2022Review
- Milk Exosomal microRNAs: Postnatal Promoters of β Cell Proliferation but Potential Inducers of β Cell De-Differentiation in Adult Life.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
- On optimal two-stage testing of multiple mediators.Biometrical journal. Biometrische Zeitschrift · 2022Article
- Leptin in Human Milk-One of the Key Regulators of Nutritional Programming.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Immunomodulatory Properties of Human Breast Milk: MicroRNA Contents and Potential Epigenetic Effects.Biomedicines · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
13 authors at 7 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundBreastfeeding is protective against many long-term diseases, yet the mechanisms involved are unknown. Leptin gene (LEP) is reported to be associated with body mass index (BMI). On the other hand, breastfeeding duration has been found to be associated with DNA methylation (DNAm) of the LEP gene. Therefore, epigenetic regulation of LEP may represent the mechanism underlying the protective effect of breastfeeding duration against obesity.
methodsIn the Isle of Wight Birth Cohort, peripheral blood DNAm at 23 cytosine-phosphate-guanine sites (CpGs) in the LEP locus in 10-year-old (n = 297) samples and 16 CpGs in 18-year-old (n = 305) samples, were generated using the Illumina Infinium MethylationEPIC and HumanMethylation450 Beadchips respectively and tested for association with breastfeeding duration (total and exclusive) using linear regression. To explore the association between breastfeeding durations and genome-wide DNAm, epigenome-wide association studies (EWASs) and differential methylation region (DMR) analyses were performed. BMI trajectories spanning the first 18 years of life were used as the outcome to test the association with breastfeeding duration (exposure) using multi-nominal logistic regression. Mediation analysis was performed for significant CpG sites.
resultsBoth total and exclusive breastfeeding duration were associated with DNAm at four LEP CpG sites at 10 years (P value < 0.05), and not at 18 years. Though no association was observed between breastfeeding duration and genome-wide DNAm, DMR analyses identified five significant differentially methylated regions (Sidak adjusted P value < 0.05). Breastfeeding duration was also associated with the early transient overweight trajectory. Furthermore, DNAm of LEP was associated with this trajectory at one CpG site and early persistent obesity at another, though mediation analysis was not significant.
conclusionsBreastfeeding duration is associated with LEP methylation at age 10 years and BMI trajectory. LEP DNAm is also significantly associated with BMI trajectories throughout childhood, though sample sizes were small. However, mediation analysis did not demonstrate that DNAm of LEP explained the protective effect of breastfeeding against childhood obesity.
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Registered trials
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 OpenQuestion graph.