ArticleClinical epigenetics2021
DNA methylation mediates the association between breastfeeding and early-life growth trajectories.
Article in Clinical epigenetics, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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
31 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 44 citations in OpenAlex.
- Breastfeeding association with DNA methylation in the pregnancy and childhood epigenetics (PACE) consortium.Clinical epigenetics · 2026Pooled it
- Animal and plant protein intake during infancy and childhood DNA methylation: a meta-analysis in the NutriPROGRAM consortium.Epigenetics · 2024Pooled it
- Intake of mother's milk by very-low-birth-weight infants and variation in DNA methylation of genes involved in neurodevelopment at 5.5 years of age.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2022Trial
- Breastfeeding in Infancy and Adult Health: A Narrative Review.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Breastfeeding in a Polluted World: Perspective on the Properties of Breast Milk and the Need for Protection.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Integrating genetic and transcriptomic data to identify genes underlying obesity risk loci.International journal of obesity (2005) · 2025Article
- Effects of Maternal Peanut Intake and Breastfeeding Duration on Offspring DNA Methylation.Food science & nutrition · 2025Article
- Early Roots of Childhood Obesity: Risk Factors, Mechanisms, and Prevention Strategies.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- White Adipocyte Stem Cell Expansion Through Infant Formula Feeding: New Insights into Epigenetic Programming Explaining the Early Protein Hypothesis of Obesity.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Impact of DNA methylation on digestive and metabolic gene expression in red pandas (Ailurus fulgens) during the transition from milk to bamboo diet.BMC genomics · 2025Article
- Article
- When Gold is Tarnished: The Impact of Smoker's Breast Milk on Offspring Growth.Journal of pediatrics. Clinical practice · 2024Article
- The interaction of breastfeeding and genetic factors on childhood obesity.European journal of obstetrics & gynecology and reproductive biology: X · 2024Review
- Can Breastfeeding Prevent Long-Term Overweight and Obesity in Children? A Population-Based Cohort Study.Nutrients · 2024Article
- Beneficial effects of short-term breastfeeding versus non-breastfeeding in early life against childhood obesity: findings from the US-based population study NHANES.International breastfeeding journal · 2024Article
- Mediation role of DNA methylation in association between handgrip strength and cognitive function in monozygotic twins.Journal of human genetics · 2024Article
- Risk of Fat Mass- and Obesity-Associated Gene-Dependent Obesogenic Programming by Formula Feeding Compared to Breastfeeding.Nutrients · 2024Review
- The Importance of Sleep in Overcoming Childhood Obesity and Reshaping Epigenetics.Biomedicines · 2024Review
- Exclusive human milk feeding and prevalence of early adiposity rebound in ELBW infants: a retrospective cohort study.European journal of pediatrics · 2024Article
- Breastfeeding: science and knowledge in pediatric obesity prevention.Frontiers in medicine · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors at 6 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe role of breastfeeding in modulating epigenetic factors has been suggested as a possible mechanism conferring its benefits on child development but it lacks evidence. Using extensive DNA methylation data from the ALSPAC child cohort, we characterized the genome-wide landscape of DNA methylation variations associated with the duration of exclusive breastfeeding and assessed whether these variations mediate the association between exclusive breastfeeding and BMI over different epochs of child growth.
resultsExclusive breastfeeding elicits more substantial DNA methylation variations during infancy than at other periods of child growth. At the genome-wide level, 13 CpG sites in girls (miR-21, SNAPC3, ATP6V0A1, DHX15/PPARGC1A, LINC00398/ALOX5AP, FAM238C, NATP/NAT2, CUX1, TRAPPC9, OSBPL1A, ZNF185, FAM84A, PDPK1) and 2 CpG sites in boys (IL16 and NREP), mediate the association between exclusive breastfeeding and longitudinal BMI. We found enrichment of CpG sites located within miRNAs and key pathways (AMPK signaling pathway, insulin signaling pathway, endocytosis). Overall DNA methylation variation corresponding to 3 to 5 months of exclusive breastfeeding was associated with slower BMI growth the first 6 years of life compared to no breastfeeding and in a dose-response manner with exclusive breastfeeding duration.
conclusionsOur study confirmed the early postnatal period as a critical developmental period associated with substantial DNA methylation variations, which in turn could mitigate the development of overweight and obesity from infancy to early childhood. Since an accelerated growth during these developmental periods has been linked to the development of sustained obesity later in life, exclusive breastfeeding could have a major role in preventing the risks of overweight/obesity and children and adults through DNA methylation mechanisms occurring early in life.
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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.