The association between maternal psychological stress and inflammatory cytokines in allergic young children

PeerJ

Ayumi Anan¹  Mayumi Tsuji²  Toshihiro Kawamoto²  Chihaya Koriyama³  Eiji Shibata⁴  Megumi Yamamoto⁵ 

[1] Department of Clinical Nursing, School of Health Sciences, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Kitakyusyu, Japan;Department of Environmental Health, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Kitakyusyu, Japan;Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima, Japan;Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Kitakyusyu, Japan;Integrated Physiology Section, Department of Basic Medical Science, National Institute for Minamata Disease, Minamata, Japan;

关键词: Allergy;    Psychological stress;    Children;    Cytokines;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.1585

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Background. Previous studies have shown that psychological stress is linked to asthma prevalence. Parental psychological stress may potentially influence inflammatory responses in their allergic children. The purpose of this study is to clarify the association between maternal psychological status and inflammatory response of allergic young children.Methods. The study subjects were 152 young allergic children (median age: 13 months) who had not shown any allergic symptoms in the past one month. mRNA expression levels of the inflammatory response genes IL-6, IL-8, IL-10 and IL-22 were quantified by qRT-PCR. Maternal psychological status was assessed by standardized questionnaires: the Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) for depression and the Japanese Perceived Stress Scale (JPSS) for perceived stress.Results. A significant positive association was observed between maternal CES-D scores and IL-6 mRNA expression in the children with asthma. The JPSS scores were also positively associated with IL-8 mRNA expression in asthmatic children and IL-6 mRNA expression in children with allergic rhinitis. Similar trends were observed among children positive for house dust mite-specific IgE, but these associations were not significant.Conclusion. This study supports the hypothesis that maternal psychological stress affects the inflammatory response in their allergic children.

【 授权许可】

Unknown