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 articleAcademicpeer-review

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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 - 1 Nov 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors.

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