Breastfeeding, lung volumes and alveolar size at school-age.

Dogaru, Cristian; Narayanan, Manjith; Spycher, Ben D; Pescatore, Anina M; Owers-Bradley, John; Beardsmore, Caroline S; Silverman, Michael; Kuehni, Claudia E (2015). Breastfeeding, lung volumes and alveolar size at school-age. BMJ Open Respiratory Research, 2(1), e000081. BMJ Publishing Group: Open Access 10.1136/bmjresp-2015-000081

Preview

Text Dogaru BMJOpenRespirRes 2015.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons: Attribution (CC-BY). Download (1MB) | Preview

BACKGROUND

Previous studies found larger lung volumes at school-age in formerly breastfed children, with some studies suggesting an effect modification by maternal asthma. We wanted to explore this further in children who had undergone extensive lung function testing. The current study aimed to assess whether breastfeeding was associated with larger lung volumes and, if so, whether all compartments were affected. We also assessed association of breastfeeding with apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), which measures freedom of gas diffusion in alveolar-acinar compartments and is a surrogate of alveolar dimensions. Additionally, we assessed whether these effects were modified by maternal asthma.

METHODS

We analysed data from 111 children and young adults aged 11-21 years, who had participated in detailed lung function testing, including spirometry, plethysmography and measurement of ADC of (3)Helium ((3)He) by MR. Information on breastfeeding came from questionnaires applied in early childhood (age 1-4 years). We determined the association between breastfeeding and these measurements using linear regression, controlling for potential confounders.

RESULTS

We did not find significant evidence for an association between duration of breastfeeding and lung volumes or alveolar dimensions in the entire sample. In breastfed children of mothers with asthma, we observed larger lung volumes and larger average alveolar size than in non-breastfed children, but the differences did not reach significance levels.

CONCLUSIONS

Confirmation of effects of breastfeeding on lung volumes would have important implications for public health. Further investigations with larger sample sizes are warranted.

Interest & Impact

Downloads

231 since deposited on 05 Jan 2016
15 in the past 12 months

Citations

5 Citations in Web of Science ®
6 Citations in Scopus

Search

in Google Scholar™

Services

Actions (login required)

Edit item

Actions (login required)

Edit item