Sex-specific association of human milk hormones and asthma in the CHILD cohort
Loading...
Date
2020-01-18
Authors
Chan, Deborah
Becker, Allan B
Moraes, Theo J.
Mandhane, Piushkumar J
Sears, Malcolm
Turvey, Stuart
Subbarao, Padmaja
Field, Catherine
Azad, Meghan
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Wiley
Abstract
Asthma is one of the most common chronic childhood diseases, affecting 15%-20% of children worldwide. The Developmental Origins of Health and Diseases hypothesis suggests that early childhood offers a critical opportunity to alter the development of chronic disease. During this period, breastfeeding is increasingly recognized as serving a dual role of both nutrition and immune protection. In the CHILD Cohort Study, we have observed a dose-dependent protective association between breastfeeding and possible or probable asthma at 3 years of age, suggesting a potential role for immunomodulatory components of human milk. In addition to transferring maternal antibodies and cytokines, human milk contains adipokines and metabolic hormones including adiponectin, leptin, and insulin. While these hormones are most often studied in relation to growth, appetite, and satiety, they also have immunomodulatory properties; yet, to our knowledge, they have never been studied in relation to asthma.
It is well established that asthma affects more boys than girls in early childhood,1 but this sex difference is not fully understood. An emerging body of evidence suggests that human milk composition may differ when produced for sons vs. daughters. However, this has not been widely studied, and even less is known about the potentially sex-specific effects of human milk components on clinical outcomes such as asthma. Here, using data from the Canadian CHILD Cohort Study, we performed a sex-stratified analysis of human milk adiponectin, leptin, and insulin concentrations and their association with possible or probable asthma development by 3 years of age.
Description
Keywords
Asthma, CHILD Cohort Study, Human milk hormones