Association of early life adversity with cardiovascular disease and its potential mechanisms: a narrative review

Front Public Health. 2024 Jan 24:12:1341266. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1341266. eCollection 2024.

Abstract

Strong epidemiological evidence has shown that early life adversity (ELA) has a profound negative impact on health in adulthood, including an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death worldwide. Here, we review cohort studies on the effects of ELA on cardiovascular outcomes and the possible underlying mechanisms. In addition, we summarize relevant studies in rodent models of ELA. This review reveals that the prevalence of ELA varies between regions, time periods, and sexes. ELA increases cardiovascular health risk behaviors, susceptibility to mental illnesses, and neuroendocrine and immune system dysfunction in humans. Rodent models of ELA have been developed and show similar cardiovascular outcomes to those in humans but cannot fully replicate all ELA subtypes. Therefore, combining cohort and rodent studies to further investigate the mechanisms underlying the association between ELA and cardiovascular diseases may be a feasible future research strategy.

Keywords: adverse childhood experiences; cardiovascular disease; early life adversity; mental health; risk behavior.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Adverse Childhood Experiences*
  • Cardiovascular Diseases* / epidemiology
  • Humans
  • Immune System
  • Mental Disorders*
  • Sexual Behavior

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This study was supported by grants from the Sustainable Development Science and Technology Project of the Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Commission (KCXFZ20201221173411032 and KCXFZ20201221173400001) and the “Five Threes” Clinical Research Program of Shenzhen People’s Hospital (SYWGSLCYJ202204).