Maternal socioeconomic disadvantage is associated with transcriptional indications of greater immune activation and slower tissue maturation in placental biopsies and newborn cord blood.

ABSTRACT: Children from economically disadvantaged families experience worse cognitive, psychiatric, and medical outcomes compared to more affluent youth. Preclinical models suggest some of the adverse influence of disadvantage could be transmitted during gestation via maternal immune activation, but this hypothesis has not been tested in humans. It also remains unclear whether prenatal interventions can mitigate such effects. To fill these gaps, we conducted two studies. Study 1 characterized the socioeconomic conditions of 79 women during pregnancy. At delivery, placenta biopsies and umbilical blood were collected for transcriptional profiling. Maternal disadvantage was associated with a transcriptional profile indicative of higher immune activation and slower fetal maturation, particularly in pat

SUBMITTER: Miller GE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5493326 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature