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IL13 Gene Variants Influence Early Life Weight Gain in Breastfed Male Infants
Author(s) -
Lohman Carla,
Stern Debra,
Klimecki Walt,
Vercelli Donata,
Wright Ann,
Halonen Marilyn
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.22.1_supplement.665.12
Subject(s) - context (archaeology) , birth weight , allele , genotype , weight gain , population , medicine , generation r , biology , genetics , gene , prospective cohort study , body weight , pregnancy , paleontology , environmental health
Rationale: Although IL‐13 has been described mainly as an immune factor involved in Th‐2 related events, there are a few studies suggesting that this cytokine may have roles beyond this context. In the context of studies suggesting an involvement in mammary gland development, we hypothesized that IL13 gene variants might differentially affect growth of breastfed infants. Methods: Children were enrolled in the population based Tucson Infant Immune Study. Weight and type of infant feeding assessed prospectively from birth. Genotypes were determined with high‐throughput Taqman ® assays for IL13 SNPs +2044 G/A (rs20541). Analyses were limited to breastfed non‐Hispanic White children. Non‐parametric tests were used to assess differences between groups. Results: Male breastfed infants homozygous for GG at +2044 were heavier than those with other alleles (homozygous or heterozygous for the A allele) in the first month of life (p=0.010). This IL13 gene variant did not influence birth weight. Calculating both weight gain and rate of weight gain also revealed significant increases for +2044 GG homozygote males (p=0.007 and 0.010, respectively). Female infants did not show these weight‐IL13 gene relations. Conclusion: IL13 genotypes appear to influence growth in early infancy among breastfed male but not female infants. Funded by: NIH grants AI 42268 AI 61811, HL66391