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Prenatal undernutrition and postnatal growth are associated with adolescent thymic function
T W McDade1, M A Beck, C W Kuzawa
1Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208-1310, USA. t-mcdale@northwestern.edu
Insights
Early life environments significantly impact immune development. Prenatal nutrition and early growth influence adolescent thymic function, affecting long-term immunocompetence and disease risk.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Developmental Biology
- Public Health
Background:
- Adult cardiovascular and metabolic diseases are linked to early life, but immune function consequences are less understood.
- The thymus is crucial for immune system development and function.
- Early life environmental exposures can have lasting health impacts.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effects of prenatal and early postnatal environments on thymic hormone production in adolescents.
- To determine if early life factors predict thymopoietin levels in adolescence.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study in the Philippines with prospective data collection from birth to adolescence.
- Measured plasma thymopoietin concentration in 103 adolescents aged 14-15 years.
- Compared thymopoietin levels based on gestational age and analyzed associations with early growth and feeding practices.
Main Results:
- Prenatal undernutrition interacted with exclusive breastfeeding duration to significantly reduce thymopoietin production.
- Infant length growth during the first year of life was positively associated with adolescent thymopoietin levels.
- These associations remained significant after controlling for confounding variables.
Conclusions:
- Fetal and early infant environments play a critical role in programming thymic function.
- Early life conditions have long-term implications for immunocompetence and susceptibility to adult diseases.
- Interventions promoting optimal early nutrition and growth may enhance immune resilience.
Abstract:
The fetal and early infant origins of a number of adult cardiovascular and metabolic diseases have received considerable attention, but the long-term consequences of early environments for human immune function have not been reported. We investigated the effects of pre- and postnatal environments on thymic hormone production in adolescents participating in an ongoing longitudinal study in the Philippines. Prospective data collected at birth, during y 1 of life, in childhood and in adolescence were used to predict plasma thymopoietin concentration in 14- to 15-y-old adolescents (n = 103). Thymopoietin concentration was compared for small-for-gestational-age and appropriate-for-gestational-age individuals while controlling for a range of postnatal exposures. Prenatal undernutrition was significantly associated with reduced thymopoietin production in interaction with the duration of exclusive breast-feeding (P = 0.006). Growth in length during y 1 of life was positively associated with adolescent thymopoietin production (P = 0.002). These associations remained significant after adjusting for a range of potentially confounding variables. These findings provide support for the importance of fetal and early infant programming of thymic function, and suggest that early environments may have long-term implications for immunocompetence and adult disease risk.