Maternal interpersonal trauma and cord blood IgE levels in an inner-city cohort: A life-course perspective

Abstract

Background Prenatal stress affects immunocompetence in offspring, although the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. Objective We sought to examine associations between maternal lifetime interpersonal trauma (IPT) and cord blood total IgE levels in a sample of urban newborns (n = 478). Methods Maternal IPT during childhood and adolescence (birth to 17 years), adulthood (18 years to index pregnancy), and the index pregnancy were ascertained by using the Revised Conflict Tactics Scale at 28.4 ± 7.9 weeks’ gestation. Cord blood IgE levels were derived by using a fluoroenzyme immunoassay. We examined effects of maternal IPT on increased cord blood IgE levels (upper quartile, 1.08 IU/mL) by using logistic regression, adjusting for confounders and mediating variables. Results Maternal trauma was categorized as unexposed (n = 285 [60%]), early (childhood and/or teenage years only, n = 107 [22%]), late (adulthood and/or index pregnancy only, n = 29 [6%]), and chronic (early and late, n = 57 [12%]) exposure. Relative to no IPT, early (odds ratio [OR], 1.78; 95% CI, 1.05–3.00) and chronic maternal IPT (OR, 2.25; 95% CI, 1.19–4.24) were independently associated with increased IgE levels in unadjusted analyses. When adjusting for standard controls, including maternal age and race, season of birth, child’s sex, and childhood and current socioeconomic status, early effects became nonsignificant (OR, 1.48; 95% CI, 0.85–2.58). Chronic exposure remained significant in fully adjusted models, including standard controls, current negative life events, allergen exposure, and potential pathway variables (maternal atopy, prenatal smoking, and birth weight; OR, 2.18; 95% CI, 1.06–4.50). Conclusion These data link chronic trauma over the mother’s life course with increased IgE levels in infants at birth. Research examining associations between maternal trauma and indicators of offspring’s atopic risk might be particularly relevant in inner-city high-risk populations. (J Allergy Clin Immunol 2009;124:954–60.)

Annual Research Review: The neuroinflammation hypothesis for stress and psychopathology in children – developmental psychoneuroimmunology

“…For example, infants whose mothers were characterized as anxious in pregnancy, according to self-report and clinical evaluation, exhibited poorer adaptive immune response at 6 months of age according to both in vitro and in vivo methods (O'Connor, et al, 2013). Those findings are broadly consistent with a retrospective study of prenatal maternal stress and cytokine production in adulthood (Entringer et al, 2008), and with other reports linking immune markers in cord blood with prenatal stress (Duijts et al, 2008; Marques, et al, 2013; Sternthal et al, 2009; Wright et al, 2010). These results do not establish a programming mechanism, but they do highlight how the human immune system is vulnerable to and responds to exposures from the prenatal period.…”

Examining the link between women's exposure to stressful life events prior to conception and infant and toddler health: the role of birth weight

“…[29] This hypothesis is supported by research showing heightened levels of total Immunoglobulin E (IgE, a biomarker of atopic risk) in cord blood of children born to mothers exposed to interpersonal trauma. [30] Alternatively, women exposed to stressors might be more likely to engage in negative health behaviors, such as smoking, a correlate of both infant birthweight[31] and children’s health. [32] However we note that the percent differences we found in this study were, in most cases, small, as exposure to PSLEs is likely only one component of a more comprehensive set of intergenerational pathways linking maternal and child health.…”

“…31 Alternatively, women exposed to stressors might be more likely to engage in negative health behaviours, such as smoking, a correlate of both infant birth weight 32 and children's health. 33 However, we note that the percent differences we found in this study were, in most cases, small, as exposure to PSLEs is likely only one component of a more comprehensive set of intergenerational pathways linking maternal and child health.…”

Family resilience: Emerging trends in theory and practice

“…Other researchers, such as Dr. Hamilton McCubbin and his group, were studying the resilience of military families and racial minority families (McCubbin et al, 1998;McCubbin & Patterson, 1983) around the same time, noticing that it takes a well-functioning family system, not just individuals, to cope in a stressful environment. Models of family coping (and resilience), along with shifting discourses in the field of psychology toward a more contextualized science of human development, began to influence the pioneers of resilience theory, including Sir Michael Rutter (1985), Dr. Norman Garmezy and his student Dr. Ann Masten (Garmezy, 1983;Garmezy, Masten, & Tellegen, 1984), and Drs. Emmy Werner and Ruth Smith (1982).…”