Genome-wide association study of patterns of perinatal exposure to polyunsaturated fatty acids from the EDEN mother-child cohort

Abstract

The genetic determinants of polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) status during the perinatal window require deeper understanding. We conducted a genome-wide association study of perinatal PUFA patterns in 1352 mother-child pairs from the French EDEN cohort using maternal genotype data. Five perinatal PUFA patterns had been previously derived using PUFA levels measured in maternal blood, cord blood, and colostrum simultaneously. We used linear regression models assuming additive genetic effects to assess the associations between common SNPs and each pattern, adjusting for maternal age, study center, and genetic ancestry. Pattern 1 “High omega-3 Long-chain (LC)-PUFAs, low omega-6 LC-PUFAs” was not associated with any genetic variants. Patterns 2 to 5—“Omega-6 LC-PUFAs,” “Colostrum LC-PUFAs,” “Omega-6 precursor (LA) and DGLA,” and “LA and colostrum ALA”—were strongly associated with variants in the FADS gene cluster. The strongest association was observed between Pattern 4 “Omega-6 precursor (LA) and DGLA,” and rs174546 located on FADS1 gene region (β (SE) = 0.80 (0.034), p < 10⁻¹⁰²). No other robust association was found with other genes. These findings underscore the main contribution of FADS variants to the variability of four specific perinatal PUFA patterns in our cohort. This study should be replicated in larger, ancestrally diverse populations beyond individuals of European descent.