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Infant cortisol stress-response is associated with thymic function and vaccine response
M Nazmul Huda1,2,3, Shaikh M Ahmad3, Md Jahangir Alam3
1a Nutrition Department , University of California , Davis , CA , USA.
Stress (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
|June 23, 2018
Summary
Infants with higher stress responses showed impaired T-cell immunity and lower vaccine responses. These findings highlight early-life stress impacts on infant immune development and suggest sex-based immune differences emerge early.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric immunology
- Stress physiology
- Neonatal immune development
Background:
- Stress is known to impair T-cell mediated immunity.
- Understanding early-life stress impacts on infant immune function is crucial for long-term health.
- Neonatal immune system development is complex and influenced by various factors, including stress.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between pain-induced cortisol responsiveness and T-cell mediated immunity in infants.
- To examine the relationship between stress responses, thymic function, and vaccine responses in early childhood.
- To identify potential sex differences in immune responses to stress during infancy.
Main Methods:
- A randomized controlled trial involving 306 infants in Bangladesh.
- Measurement of salivary cortisol levels before and after vaccination (needle stick).
- Assessment of thymic index (TI) via ultrasonography, T-cell receptor excision circles (TREC), T-cell concentrations, and vaccine responses (BCG, tetanus, hepatitis B, poliovirus).
Main Results:
- Higher cortisol responsiveness was negatively associated with thymic index in boys and with naïve helper T-cell concentrations in both sexes.
- Infants with higher cortisol responses exhibited reduced delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) skin test responses to BCG vaccination.
- Sex differences in immune system development were observable as early as 6 weeks of age.
Conclusions:
- Elevated cortisol response to pain in infants is linked to alterations in T-cell populations and diminished DTH response to vaccination.
- These findings suggest that early-life stress can negatively impact T-cell mediated immunity in infants.
- The study reveals significant sex differences in immune system development beginning in early infancy.
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