Department of Neurology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
Molecular & Environmental Toxicology Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
Nutrients. 2021 May 24;13(6):1785. doi: 10.3390/nu13061785.
Breastfeeding is associated with numerous health benefits, but early life nutrition has not been specifically studied in the neurodevelopmental disorder fragile X syndrome (FXS). Herein, I evaluate associations between the consumption of breast milk during infancy and the prevalence of autism, allergies, diabetes, gastrointestinal (GI) problems and seizures in FXS. The study design was a retrospective survey of families enrolled in the Fragile X Online Registry and Accessible Research Database (FORWARD). There was a 1.7-fold reduction in the prevalence of autism in FXS participants who were fed breast milk for 12 months or longer. There were strong negative correlations between increased time the infant was fed breast milk and the prevalence of autism and seizures and moderate negative correlations with the prevalence of GI problems and allergies. However, participants reporting GI problems or allergies commenced these comorbidities significantly earlier than those not fed breast milk. Parsing the data by sex indicated that males exclusively fed breast milk exhibited decreased prevalence of GI problems and allergies. These data suggest that long-term or exclusive use of breast milk is associated with reduced prevalence of key comorbidities in FXS, although breast milk is associated with the earlier development of GI problems and allergies.
母乳喂养与许多健康益处有关，但在神经发育障碍脆性 X 综合征 (FXS) 中，早期生活营养尚未得到专门研究。在此，我评估了婴儿期母乳喂养与脆性 X 综合征中自闭症、过敏、糖尿病、胃肠道 (GI) 问题和癫痫发作的患病率之间的关联。研究设计是对脆性 X 在线注册和可及研究数据库 (FORWARD) 中登记的家庭进行的回顾性调查。母乳喂养 12 个月或更长时间的 FXS 参与者中，自闭症的患病率降低了 1.7 倍。婴儿母乳喂养时间的增加与自闭症和癫痫发作的患病率呈强烈负相关，与 GI 问题和过敏的患病率呈中度负相关。然而，报告有 GI 问题或过敏的参与者开始出现这些合并症的时间明显早于未母乳喂养的参与者。按性别分析数据表明，纯母乳喂养的男性患 GI 问题和过敏的患病率降低。这些数据表明，长期或纯母乳喂养与 FXS 中关键合并症的患病率降低有关，尽管母乳喂养与 GI 问题和过敏的更早发展有关。
