Maternal stress triggers early-life eczema through fetal mast cell programming.

ABSTRACT: Prenatal stress (PS) is a repeated exposure to aversive situations during pregnancy, including high emotional strain, which is suspected to affect homeostatic systems in infants. Paediatric eczema develops quickly after birth at flexural sites subjected to continuous mechanical constraints^1,2. Although epidemiological studies have suggested an association between PS and a higher risk of eczema in children^3-6, no causative biological link has yet been identified. Here we show that eczema at birth originates from molecular dysregulations of neuroimmune circuits in utero, triggered by fluctuations in the maternal hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. We found that offspring of stressed pregnant dams have dysregulated mast cells and skin-projecting neurons and quickly deve

SUBMITTER: Serhan N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12488486 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature