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Maternal Immune activity during pregnancy and socioeconomic disparities in children's self-regulation

Jing Yu1, Akhgar Ghassabian2, Zhen Chen1

  • 1Division of Intramural Population Health Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 6710B Rockledge Drive, Bethesda, MD 20817, United States.

Brain, Behavior, and Immunity
|September 12, 2020
PubMed

Insights

Maternal immune activity during pregnancy, specifically interleukin-8 (IL-8), is linked to better child self-regulation. This cytokine may explain some socioeconomic disparities in children's developing self-control abilities.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Immunology

Background:

  • Maternal prenatal immune activity is linked to offspring psychiatric risks.
  • Less is known about its impact on children's emotional and behavioral development, including self-regulation.
  • Socioeconomic status (SES) and race can influence child development outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate associations between prenatal maternal cytokine concentrations and offspring self-regulation.
  • To examine if these associations differ by socioeconomic status (SES) and race.
  • To explore the mediating role of maternal cytokines in SES disparities in child self-regulation.

Main Methods:

  • Analyzed prenatal serum cytokine concentrations (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α, IL-10) from 1628 women in the Collaborative Perinatal Project (CPP).
  • Assessed child self-regulation using psychologist ratings of seven behavioral items at age 4.
  • Controlled for child sex, maternal age, and maternal psychiatric/medical conditions.

Main Results:

  • Higher SES was associated with better child self-regulation (β = 0.18).
  • Higher maternal serum interleukin-8 (IL-8) concentration was linked to improved child self-regulation (β = 0.09).
  • Maternal IL-8 partially mediated the relationship between family SES and child self-regulation, explaining ~10% of SES disparities (β = 0.02).

Conclusions:

  • Pregnancy represents an early sensitive period for child development.
  • Maternal immune activity, particularly IL-8, is a significant factor influencing child self-regulation.
  • Maternal IL-8 may play a role in mitigating socioeconomic disparities in children's self-regulation development.

Keywords:
Gestational cytokinesInflammation biomarkersRacial disparitySelf-regulationSocioeconomic inequality

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