Inflammatory and immune marker trajectories from pregnancy to one-year post-birth

Kharah M Ross; Christine Dunkel Schetter; Judith E Carroll; Roberta A Mancuso; Elizabeth C Breen; Michele L Okun; Calvin Hobel; Mary Coussons-Read

doi:10.1016/j.cyto.2021.155758

Inflammatory and immune marker trajectories from pregnancy to one-year post-birth

Cytokine. 2022 Jan:149:155758. doi: 10.1016/j.cyto.2021.155758. Epub 2021 Nov 11.

Authors

Kharah M Ross¹, Christine Dunkel Schetter², Judith E Carroll³, Roberta A Mancuso⁴, Elizabeth C Breen³, Michele L Okun⁵, Calvin Hobel⁶, Mary Coussons-Read⁵

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Social Sciences, Athabasca University, Athabasca, AB, Canada. Electronic address: kharahr@athabascau.ca.
² Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
³ Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
⁴ Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Regis University, Denver, CO, USA.
⁵ University of Colorado - Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, CO, USA.
⁶ Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

PMID: 34773858
DOI: 10.1016/j.cyto.2021.155758

Abstract

Background: Pregnancy is an immunomodulatory state, with reported systematic changes in inflammatory and immune activity by pregnancy stage. Published data are inconsistent as to how inflammatory and immune markers change and recover across pregnancy and the postpartum period, or the sociodemographic, health and pregnancy-related factors that could affect biomarker trajectories. The purpose of this study is to describe inflammatory and immune marker trajectories from pregnancy to a year post-birth, and to test associations with sociodemographic, health and pregnancy-related variables.

Methods: A sample of 179 pregnant women were assessed three times during pregnancy (between 8 and 36 weeks gestation) and three times during the postpartum period (between 1 and 12 months). Maternal sociodemographic characteristics, health, and pregnancy factors were obtained at study entry. Blood samples from each assessment were assayed for interleukin(IL)-6, tumor necrosis factor(TNF)α, IL-8, IL-10, and interferon(IFN)γ. Multilevel modelling was used to characterize biomarker trajectories and associations with sociodemographic and health variables.

Results: Distinct trajectories over time emerged for each biomarker. Male pregnancies were associated with higher TNFα, IL-10, and IFNγ; higher pre-pregnancy BMI was associated with higher IL-6 and IFNγ. Nulliparity was associated with greater increases in IL-6 and TNFα.

Conclusions: Patterns observed for inflammatory and immune markers from pregnancy to a year postpartum support the hypothesis that the maternal immune system changes systematically across pregnancy and through an extended postpartum period. Parity, pre-pregnancy BMI and child sex are associated with inflammatory marker patterns over time. These results contribute to our understanding of how immune system activity changes from pregnancy to the post-birth period, and the factors that could affect those changes.

Keywords: BMI; Inflammatory Proteins; Parity; Postpartum Period; Pregnancy.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

Adult
Biomarkers / blood*
Female
Gestational Age
Humans
Inflammation / blood*
Interferon-gamma / blood
Interleukins / blood
Postpartum Period / blood*
Pregnancy

Substances

Biomarkers
Interleukins
Interferon-gamma

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding