Maternal caffeine consumption during pregnancy and offspring cord blood DNA methylation: an epigenome-wide association study meta-analysis

Laura Schellhas*, Giulietta S Monasso, Janine F Felix, Vincent Wv Jaddoe, Peiyuan Huang, Sílvia Fernández-Barrés, Martine Vrijheid, Giancarlo Pesce, Isabella Annesi-Maesano, Christian M Page, Anne-Lise Brantsæter, Mona Bekkhus, Siri E Håberg, Stephanie J London, Marcus R Munafò, Luisa Zuccolo, Gemma C Sharp

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview article (Academic Journal)peer-review

Abstract

Background: Prenatal caffeine exposure may influence offspring health via DNA methylation, but no large studies have tested this. Materials & methods: Epigenome-wide association studies and differentially methylated regions in cord blood (450k or EPIC Illumina arrays) were meta-analyzed across six European cohorts (n = 3725). Differential methylation related to self-reported caffeine intake (mg/day) from coffee, tea and cola was compared with assess whether caffeine is driving effects. Results: One CpG site (cg19370043, PRRX1) was associated with caffeine and another (cg14591243, STAG1) with cola intake. A total of 12-22 differentially methylated regions were detected with limited overlap across caffeinated beverages. Conclusion: We found little evidence to support an intrauterine effect of caffeine on offspring DNA methylation. Statistical power limitations may have impacted our findings.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1179-1193
Number of pages15
JournalEpigenomics
Volume15
Issue number22
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 29 Nov 2023

Keywords

  • Pregnancy
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Caffeine/adverse effects
  • DNA Methylation
  • Epigenome
  • Fetal Blood
  • Homeodomain Proteins

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