Cited by 108Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and PostpartumStress Responses and CortisolBirth, Development, and Health

Prenatal maternal depression is associated with offspring inflammation at 25 years: a prospective longitudinal cohort study

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Plant, D T, Pawlby, S, Sharp, D, Zunszain, P A, Pariante, C M·2016·Translational Psychiatry

Abstract

Animal studies and a handful of prospective human studies have demonstrated that young offspring exposed to maternal prenatal stress show abnormalities in immune parameters and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis function. No study has examined the effect of maternal prenatal depression on offspring inflammation and HPA axis activity in adulthood, nor the putative role of child maltreatment in inducing these abnormalities. High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and awakening cortisol were measured at age 25 in 103 young-adult offspring of the South London Child Development Study (SLCDS), a prospective longitudinal birth cohort of mother-offspring dyads recruited in pregnancy in 1986. Maternal prenatal depression was assessed in pregnancy at 20 and 36 weeks; offspring child maltreatment (birth 17 years) was assessed at offspring ages 11, 16 and 25; and offspring adulthood depression (18-25 years) was assessed at age 25. Exposure to maternal prenatal depression predicted significantly elevated offspring hs-CRP at age 25 (odds ratio=11.8, 95% confidence interval (CI) (1.1, 127.0), P=0.041), independently of child maltreatment and adulthood depression, known risk factors for adulthood inflammation. In contrast, maternal prenatal depression did not predict changes in offspring adulthood cortisol; however, offspring exposure to child maltreatment did, and was associated with elevated awakening cortisol levels (B=161.9, 95% CI (45.4, 278.4), P=0.007). Fetal exposure to maternal depression during pregnancy has effects on immune function that persist for up to a quarter of a century after birth. Findings are consistent with the developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) hypothesis for the biological embedding of gestational psychosocial adversity into vulnerability for future physical and mental illness.

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  1. First MB, Spitzer RL, Gibbon M, Williams JB. Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders, Clinician Version (SCID-CV). American Psychiatric Press: Washington, USA, 1996.
  2. World Health Organization Mental Disorders: Glossary and Guide to their Classification in Accordance with the 9th Revision. World Health Organization Press: Geneva, Switzerland, 1978.

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Authors
Plant, D. T., Pawlby, S., Sharp, D., Zunszain, P. A., & Pariante, C. M.
Affiliations
  • King's College London (GB)
  • University of Bristol (GB)
Corresponding author
Plant, D T
Venue
Translational Psychiatry
Published
2016-11-01
Volume
6
Issue
11
Pages
e936-e936
ISSN
2158-3188 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2546732350
Cited by
108
References
80
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 18 · 2017: 5
FWCI
13.22
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Translational Psychiatry (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • Wellcome Trust
  • Psychiatry Research Trust
  • National Institute for Health and Care Research
  • King's College London
  • Cardiff University
  • Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London
  • Medical Research Council (MR/N029488/1, MR/J002739/1)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Birth, Development, and Health
Keywords
C-reactive protein, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, child abuse, developmental origins of health and disease, biological embedding, adult depression, immune function
MeSH terms
Adolescent, C-Reactive Protein, Child, Child Abuse, Child, Preschool, Depressive Disorder, Female, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System, Infant, Infant, Newborn, Inflammation, Longitudinal Studies, Pituitary-Adrenal System, Pregnancy, Pregnancy Complications, Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects, Risk Factors, Statistics as Topic, Cohort Studies, Young Adult

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