Dataset Information

Human transgenerational observations of regular smoking before puberty on fat mass in grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

ABSTRACT: Previously, using data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) we showed that sons of fathers who had started smoking regularly before puberty (< 13 years) had increased fat mass during childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood. We now show that if the paternal grandfather had started smoking pre-puberty, compared with later in childhood (13-16 years), his granddaughters, but not grandsons, had evidence of excess fat mass at two ages: mean difference + 3.54 kg; (P with 1-tailed test) = 0.043 at 17 years, and + 5.49 kg; (P₁ = 0.016) at age 24. When fathers of maternal grandfathers had started smoking pre-puberty, their great-granddaughters, but not great-grandsons, had excess body fat: + 5.35 kg (P₁ = 0.050) at 17, and + 6.10 kg (P₁ = 0.053) at 24 years. Similar associations were not found with lean mass, in a sensitivity analysis. To determine whether these results were due to the later generations starting to smoke pre-puberty, further analyses omitted those in subsequent generations who had smoked regularly from < 13 years. The results were similar. If these associations are confirmed in another dataset or using biomarkers, this will be one of the first human demonstrations of transgenerational effects of an environmental exposure across four generations.

SUBMITTER: Golding J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8782898 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Human transgenerational observations of regular smoking before puberty on fat mass in grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Golding Jean J Gregory Steve S Northstone Kate K Pembrey Marcus M Watkins Sarah S Iles-Caven Yasmin Y Suderman Matthew M

Scientific reports 20220121 1

Previously, using data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) we showed that sons of fathers who had started smoking regularly before puberty (< 13 years) had increased fat mass during childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood. We now show that if the paternal grandfather had started smoking pre-puberty, compared with later in childhood (13-16 years), his granddaughters, but not grandsons, had evidence of excess fat mass at two ages: mean difference + 3.54 kg; (P wit ...[more]

PMID: 35064168

Similar Datasets

Project description:Emerging evidence suggests that parents' preconception exposures may influence offspring health. We aimed to investigate maternal and paternal smoking onset in specific time windows in relation to offspring body mass index (BMI) and fat mass index (FMI). We investigated fathers (n = 2111) and mothers (n = 2569) aged 39-65 years, of the population based RHINE and ECRHS studies, and their offspring aged 18-49 years (n = 6487, mean age 29.6 years) who participated in the RHINESSA study. BMI was calculated from self-reported height and weight, and FMI was estimated from bioelectrical impedance measures in a subsample. Associations with parental smoking were analysed with generalized linear regression adjusting for parental education and clustering by study centre and family. Interactions between offspring sex were analysed, as was mediation by parental pack years, parental BMI, offspring smoking and offspring birthweight. Fathers' smoking onset before conception of the offspring (onset ≥15 years) was associated with higher BMI in the offspring when adult (β 0.551, 95%CI: 0.174-0.929, p = 0.004). Mothers' preconception and postnatal smoking onset was associated with higher offspring BMI (onset <15 years: β1.161, 95%CI 0.378-1.944; onset ≥15 years: β0.720, 95%CI 0.293-1.147; onset after offspring birth: β2.257, 95%CI 1.220-3.294). However, mediation analysis indicated that these effects were fully mediated by parents' postnatal pack years, and partially mediated by parents' BMI and offspring smoking. Regarding FMI, sons of smoking fathers also had higher fat mass (onset <15 years β1.604, 95%CI 0.269-2.939; onset ≥15 years β2.590, 95%CI 0.544-4.636; and onset after birth β2.736, 95%CI 0.621-4.851). There was no association between maternal smoking and offspring fat mass. We found that parents' smoking before conception was associated with higher BMI in offspring when they reached adulthood, but that these effects were mediated through parents' pack years, suggesting that cumulative smoking exposure during offspring's childhood may elicit long lasting effects on offspring BMI.

Dataset Information

Human transgenerational observations of regular smoking before puberty on fat mass in grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Publications

Human transgenerational observations of regular smoking before puberty on fat mass in grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets