Air Pollution, Neonatal Immune Responses, and Potential Joint Effects of Maternal Depression

Jill Hahn, Diane R. Gold, Brent A. Coull, Marie C. McCormick, Patricia W. Finn, David L. Perkins, Sheryl L. Rifas Shiman, Emily Oken and Laura D. Kubzansky
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Jill Hahn: Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA
Diane R. Gold: Channing Division of Network Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
Brent A. Coull: Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA
Marie C. McCormick: Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA
Patricia W. Finn: Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep, and Allergy, Department of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612, USA
David L. Perkins: Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612, USA
Sheryl L. Rifas Shiman: Division of Chronic Disease Research Across the Lifecourse, Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston, MA 02215, USA
Emily Oken: Division of Chronic Disease Research Across the Lifecourse, Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston, MA 02215, USA
Laura D. Kubzansky: Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 10, 1-16

Abstract: Prenatal maternal exposure to air pollution may cause adverse health effects in offspring, potentially through altered immune responses. Maternal psychosocial distress can also alter immune function and may increase gestational vulnerability to air pollution exposure. We investigated whether prenatal exposure to air pollution is associated with altered immune responses in cord blood mononuclear cells (CBMCs) and potential modification by maternal depression in 463 women recruited in early pregnancy (1999–2001) into the Project Viva longitudinal cohort. We estimated black carbon (BC), fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ), residential proximity to major roadways, and near-residence traffic density, averaged over pregnancy. Women reported depressive symptoms in mid-pregnancy (Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale) and depression history by questionnaire. Immune responses were assayed by concentrations of three cytokines (IL-6, IL-10, and TNF-?), in unstimulated or stimulated (phytohemagglutinin (PHA), cockroach extract (Bla g 2), house dust mite extract (Der f 1)) CBMCs. Using multivariable linear or Tobit regression analyses, we found that CBMCs production of IL-6, TNF-a, and IL-10 were all lower in mothers exposed to higher levels of PM 2.5 during pregnancy. A suggestive but not statistically significant pattern of lower cord blood cytokine concentrations from ever (versus never) depressed women exposed to PM 2.5 , BC, or traffic was also observed and warrants further study.

Keywords: social determinants of health; chemical stressors; non-chemical stressors; air pollution; maternal prenatal depression; immune system; cord blood mononuclear cells; cytokines; intergenerational effects (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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