Influence of prenatal psychosocial stress on cytokine production in adult women
Open accessAbstract
The aim of the present study was to determine the association between prenatal stress and immune function in human adults. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 34 healthy young women whose mothers experienced major negative life events during their pregnancy (Prenatal Stress, PS group, mean age 25, SD ± 4.34 years), and from a female comparison group (n = 28, CG, mean age 24 ± 3.40 years), were stimulated with phytohemagglutinin (PHA), and subsequent cytokine production was measured. A bias for T‐helper 2 (Th2) cytokine production due to an overproduction of IL‐4 relative to IFN‐γ after PHA stimulation was observed in PS subjects. In addition, IL‐6 and IL‐10 were also significantly elevated. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to suggest a direct association between prenatal stress exposure and alterations in immune parameters in adult women. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 50: 579–587, 2008.
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Maternal inflammation may play a role, given that maternal stress has been associated with increased inflammatory markers and altered cytokine production during pregnancy.
“Moreover, maternal inflammation may play a role, given that maternal stress has been associated with increased inflammatory markers and altered cytokine production during pregnancy [136–139].”
From Brain structural and functional outcomes in the offspring of women experiencing psychological distress during pregnancy (2024) · cites this paper as [138]
The Discussion reports an association between maternal stress during pregnancy and altered cytokine production, but the measurements were made in adult female offspring, not in the pregnant mothers. It reports higher IL-6 and IL-10 after stimulation in those offspring; it does not establish increased maternal inflammatory markers during pregnancy. The indexed passages provide no page numbers. (LLM, conf=0.88)
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- Authors
- Entringer, S., Kumsta, R., Nelson, E. L., Hellhammer, D. H., Wadhwa, P. D., & Wüst, S.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Irvine (US)
- Universität Trier (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Wadhwa, Pathik D.
- Wüst, Stefan
- ORCID
- Venue
- Developmental Psychobiology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2008-08-05
- Volume
- 50
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 579-587
- ISSN
- 0012-1630 (ISSN-L)
- 1098-2302
- PMC
- PMC2838479
- OpenAlex
- W2016958021
- Cited by
- 127
- References
- 50
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 14 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 8
- FWCI
- 2.53
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Developmental Psychobiology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- ePrints Soton (University of Southampton) (submittedVersion)
- FreiDok plus (Universitätsbibliothek Freiburg) (submittedVersion)
- Open Repository and Bibliography (University of Luxembourg) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- Funders
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R29HD033506, HD-047609, HD 041696, HD 33506, P01HD047609, R01HD041696)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Birth, Development, and Health
- Keywords
- prenatal stress, psychosocial stress, cytokine production, immune function, Th2 cytokines, IL-4, interferon-gamma, interleukin-6, IL-10, peripheral blood mononuclear cells, phytohemagglutinin stimulation, women
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Birth Weight, Body Height, Depressive Disorder, Female, T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer, Humans, Interleukins, Leukocytes, Life Change Events, Lymphocytes, Neurotic Disorders, Phytohemagglutinins, Pregnancy, Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects, Surveys and Questionnaires, Stress, Psychological, Cytokines
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