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Maternal diet during pregnancy and micronuclei frequency in peripheral blood T lymphocytes in mothers and newborns (Rhea cohort, Crete)

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Abstract

Purpose

The study assessed whether diet and adherence to cancer prevention guidelines during pregnancy were associated with micronucleus (MN) frequency in mothers and newborns. MN is biomarkers of early genetic effects that have been associated with cancer risk in adults.

Methods

A total of 188 mothers and 200 newborns from the Rhea cohort (Greece) were included in the study. At early-mid pregnancy, we conducted personal interviews and a validated food frequency questionnaire was completed. With this information, we constructed a score reflecting adherence to the World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research cancer prevention guidelines on diet, physical activity and body fatness. At delivery, maternal and/or cord blood was collected to measure DNA and hemoglobin adducts of dietary origin and frequencies of MN in binucleated and mononucleated T lymphocytes (MNBN and MNMONO).

Results

In mothers, higher levels of red meat consumption were associated with increased MNBN frequency [2nd tertile IRR = 1.34 (1.00, 1.80), 3rd tertile IRR = 1.33 (0.96, 1.85)] and MNMONO frequency [2nd tertile IRR = 1.53 (0.84, 2.77), 3rd tertile IRR = 2.69 (1.44, 5.05)]. The opposite trend was observed for MNBN in newborns [2nd tertile IRR = 0.64 (0.44, 0.94), 3rd tertile IRR = 0.68 (0.46, 1.01)], and no association was observed with MNMONO. Increased MN frequency in pregnant women with high red meat consumption is consistent with previous knowledge.

Conclusions

Our results also suggest exposure to genotoxics during pregnancy might affect differently mothers and newborns. The predictive value of MN as biomarker for childhood cancer, rather than adulthood, remains unclear. With few exceptions, the association between maternal carcinogenic exposures during pregnancy and childhood cancer or early biologic effect biomarkers remains poorly understood.

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Acknowledgments

We thank all of the participants of the Rhea study and the interviewers, statisticians and the hospital personnel for their cooperation and contribution to this study. We want to thank Dan Segerbäck and Per Rydberg for cooperation and contribution to the DNA and Hb adduct analyses. The Rhea cohort was funded by the following European projects NewGeneris (FP-6-FOOD-CT-2005-016320), ESCAPE (FP7-2007-211250), HiWATE (FP-6-FOOD-CT-2006-036224), Envirogenomarkers (FP7-2008-ENV-1.2.1.4), CHICOS (FP7-2009-GA 241604), and ENRIECO (FP7-2008-GA 226285). COG holds a Sara Borrell postdoctoral fellowship awarded from the Carlos III National Institute of Health (CD13/00072). MP held a Juan de la Cierva postdoctoral fellowship awarded from the Spanish Ministry of Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (JCI-2011-09479). DFM received support from the Italian Ministry of Health, 5x1000 Grant-2011.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ISGlobal, Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), Barcelona, Spain

    Cristina O’Callaghan-Gordo, Manolis Kogevinas, Marie Pedersen, Ana Espinosa, Xristina Tsiapa & Dora Romaguera

  2. Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain

    Cristina O’Callaghan-Gordo, Manolis Kogevinas, Marie Pedersen, Ana Espinosa, Xristina Tsiapa & Dora Romaguera

  3. CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain

    Cristina O’Callaghan-Gordo, Manolis Kogevinas, Marie Pedersen, Ana Espinosa, Xristina Tsiapa & Dora Romaguera

  4. IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute), Barcelona, Spain

    Manolis Kogevinas & Ana Espinosa

  5. National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM), U823, Team of Environmental Epidemiology Applied to Reproduction and Respiratory Health, Institute Albert Bonniot, Grenoble, France

    Marie Pedersen

  6. Department of Public Health, Centre for Epidemiology and Screening CSS, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Marie Pedersen

  7. Diet, Genes and Environment, Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Marie Pedersen

  8. Faculty of Medicine, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece

    Eleni Fthenou, Xristina Tsiapa, Georgia Chalkiadaki, Vasiliki Daraki, Eirini Dermitzaki, Vaggelis Georgiou, Theano Roumeliotaki, Katerina Sarri & Leda Chatzi

  9. Laboratory of Cell Genetics, Faculty of Science and Bio-engineering, Vrije Universitei Brussel, Brussels, Belgium

    Ilse Decordier, Kim Vande Loock & Micheline Kirsch-Volders

  10. Cancer Studies and Molecular Medicine, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK

    Peter B. Farmer

  11. National Hellenic Research Foundation, Institute of Biology, Medicinal Chemistry and Biotechnology, Athens, Greece

    Panagiotis Georgiadis & Soterios A. Kyrtopoulos

  12. Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Clinical Trials, Istituto di Ricerca e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS) Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria (AOU) San Martino-Istituto Nazionale per la Ricerca sul Cancro (IST), Genoa, Italy

    Domenico Franco Merlo

  13. CIBER Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición, CIBER-OBN, Madrid, Spain

    Dora Romaguera

  14. Department of Environmental Science and Analytical Chemistry, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

    Margareta Törnqvist & Hans von Stedingk

  15. Department of Toxicogenomics, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Jos Kleinjans

Authors
  1. Cristina O’Callaghan-Gordo
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  2. Manolis Kogevinas
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  4. Eleni Fthenou
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  12. Panagiotis Georgiadis
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  15. Domenico Franco Merlo
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  18. Katerina Sarri
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  23. Micheline Kirsch-Volders
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  24. Leda Chatzi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Cristina O’Callaghan-Gordo.

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O’Callaghan-Gordo, C., Kogevinas, M., Pedersen, M. et al. Maternal diet during pregnancy and micronuclei frequency in peripheral blood T lymphocytes in mothers and newborns (Rhea cohort, Crete). Eur J Nutr 57, 209–218 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-016-1310-1

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