Prenatal maternal distress associates with a blunted cortisol response in rhinovirus-positive infants

Risk of otitis media in offspring following maternal prenatal stress exposure

OBJECTIVES

There is limited but consistent evidence that suggests prenatal factors, including maternal stress, may contribute to susceptibility for otitis media. We aimed to determine the effect of multiple life stress events during pregnancy on risk of acute and recurrent otitis media in offspring at three and five years of age.

METHODS

Exposure data on stressful life events were collected from pregnant women in a longitudinal prospective pregnancy cohort study, at 18 and 34 weeks' gestation. We used longitudinal regression models stratified by offspring sex to examine associations between the number, type and timing of maternal prenatal stress events and the likelihood of any OM in addition to recurrent OM infection at age three and five years, adjusting for pre-specified prenatal sociodemographic and environmental confounders.

RESULTS

Each additional stressful life event in pregnancy was associated with increased risk of any OM at both ages (3 years: OR = 1.07, 95%CI = 1.02, 1.12; 5 years: OR = 1.07, 95%CI = 1.02, 1.12), with larger effect sizes for recurrent otitis media (3 years: OR = 1.11, 95%CI = 1.05, 1.17; 5 years: OR = 1.09, 95%CI = 1.04, 1.14). Risk of offspring otitis media did not differ with timing of stress nor by offspring sex. Specific types of stress (pregnancy and relationship problems, issues with other children) were each associated with increased risk of recurrent OM at age three and five years.

CONCLUSIONS

We observed a dose-response relationship between maternal stressful life events in pregnancy and the risk for offspring otitis media in the preschool years, most marked for recurrent otitis media.

Interactions of genetic variants and prenatal stress in relation to the risk for recurrent respiratory infections in children

Genetic variants may predispose children to recurrent respiratory infections (RRIs) but studies on genotype-environment interaction are rare. We hypothesized that the risk for RRIs is elevated in children with innate immune gene variants, and that prenatal exposure to maternal psychological distress further increases the risk. In a birth cohort, children with RRIs (n = 96) were identified by the age of 24 months and compared with the remaining cohort children (n = 894). The risk for RRIs in children with preselected genetic variants and the interaction between maternal distress during pregnancy and child genotype were assessed with logistic regression. The IL6 minor allele G was associated with elevated risk for RRIs (OR 1.55; 95% CI 1.14-2.12). Overall, there was no interaction between maternal psychological distress and child genotype. Exploratory analyses showed that, the association between the variant type of IL6 and the risk for RRIs was dependent on prenatal exposure to maternal psychological distress in males (OR 1.96; 95% CI 1.04-3.67). Our study didn't find genotype-environment interaction between prenatal maternal distress and child genotype. Exploratory analyses suggest sex differences in gene-environment interaction related to susceptibility to RRIs.

Long-Term IoT-Based Maternal Monitoring: System Design and Evaluation

Pregnancy is a unique time when many mothers gain awareness of their lifestyle and its impacts on the fetus. High-quality care during pregnancy is needed to identify possible complications early and ensure the mother’s and her unborn baby’s health and well-being. Different studies have thus far proposed maternal health monitoring systems. However, they are designed for a specific health problem or are limited to questionnaires and short-term data collection methods. Moreover, the requirements and challenges have not been evaluated in long-term studies. Maternal health necessitates a comprehensive framework enabling continuous monitoring of pregnant women. In this paper, we present an Internet-of-Things (IoT)-based system to provide ubiquitous maternal health monitoring during pregnancy and postpartum. The system consists of various data collectors to track the mother’s condition, including stress, sleep, and physical activity. We carried out the full system implementation and conducted a real human subject study on pregnant women in Southwestern Finland. We then evaluated the system’s feasibility, energy efficiency, and data reliability. Our results show that the implemented system is feasible in terms of system usage during nine months. We also indicate the smartwatch, used in our study, has acceptable energy efficiency in long-term monitoring and is able to collect reliable photoplethysmography data. Finally, we discuss the integration of the presented system with the current healthcare system.

Immune System Remodelling by Prenatal Betamethasone: Effects on β-Cells and Type 1 Diabetes

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a multifactorial disease of unknown aetiology. Studies focusing on environment-related prenatal changes, which might have an influence on the development of T1D, are still missing. Drugs, such as betamethasone, are used during this critical period without exploring possible effects later in life. Betamethasone can interact with the development and function of the two main players in T1D, the immune system and the pancreatic β-cells. Short-term or persistent changes in any of these two players may influence the initiation of the autoimmune reaction against β-cells. In this review, we focus on the ability of betamethasone to induce alterations in the immune system, impairing the recognition of autoantigens. At the same time, betamethasone affects β-cell gene expression and apoptosis rate, reducing the danger signals that will attract unwanted attention from the immune system. These effects may synergise to hinder the autoimmune attack. In this review, we compile scattered evidence to provide a better understanding of the basic relationship between betamethasone and T1D, laying the foundation for future studies on human cohorts that will help to fully grasp the role of betamethasone in the development of T1D.