☆ 4.7 Article

Maternal prenatal depression predicts infant negative affect via maternal inflammatory cytokine levels

BRAIN BEHAVIOR AND IMMUNITY (2018)

Journal

BRAIN BEHAVIOR AND IMMUNITY

Volume 73, Issue -, Pages 470-481

Publisher

ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE

DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2018.06.011

Keywords

Prenatal depression; Inflammation; Cytokines; Infant temperament; Negative affect

Funding

Abracadabra Foundation
National Institutes of Health under National Institute of Mental Health [R3759105]
National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences
NATIONAL CENTER FOR ADVANCING TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCES [TL1TR002371] Funding Source: NIH RePORTER
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH [R37MH059105, R01MH117177] Funding Source: NIH RePORTER

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Abstract

Maternal depressive symptoms during pregnancy are associated with risk for offspring emotional and behavioral problems, but the mechanisms by which this association occurs are not known. Infant elevated negative affect (increased crying, irritability, fearfulness, etc.) is a key risk factor for future psychopathology, so understanding its determinants has prevention and early intervention potential. An understudied yet promising hypothesis is that maternal mood affects infant mood via maternal prenatal inflammatory mechanisms, but this has not been prospectively examined in humans. Using data from a pilot study of women followed from the second trimester of pregnancy through six months postpartum (N = 68) our goal was to initiate a prospective study as to whether maternal inflammatory cytokines mediate the association between maternal depressive symptoms and infant offspring negative affect. The study sample was designed to examine a broad range of likely self-regulation and mood-regulation problems in offspring; to that end we over-selected women with a family history or their own history of elevated symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Results supported the hypothesis: maternal pro-inflammatory cytokines during the third trimester (indexed using a latent variable that included plasma interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-alpha and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 concentrations as indicators) mediated the effect, such that higher maternal depressive symptoms were associated with higher maternal inflammation, and this mediated the effect on maternal report of infant negative affect (controlling for maternal affect during the infant period). This is the first human study to demonstrate that maternal inflammatory cytokines mediate the association between prenatal depression and infant outcomes, and the first to demonstrate a biological mechanism through which depressive symptoms impact infant temperament.

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Prenatal maternal and cord blood vitamin D concentrations and negative affectivity in infancy

Sara Sammallahti, Elisa Holmlund-Suila, Runyu Zou, Saara Valkama, Jenni Rosendahl, Maria Enlund-Cerullo, Helena Hauta-Alus, Marius Lahti-Pulkkinen, Hanan El Marroun, Henning Tiemeier, Outi Makitie, Sture Andersson, Katri Raikkonen, Kati Heinonen

Summary: Higher maternal vitamin D concentration during pregnancy is associated with better child mental health, particularly in relation to negative affectivity, a trait indicating increased risk of psychopathology. The study found that higher maternal early/mid-pregnancy vitamin D levels were associated with lower negative affectivity in infants, while cord blood vitamin D levels showed less clear associations. These findings suggest that maternal vitamin D status during early- and mid-pregnancy may play a role in the behavioral development of offspring.

EUROPEAN CHILD & ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRY (2023)