Prenatal undernutrition and postnatal growth are associated with adolescent thymic function.
The fetal and early infant origins of a number of adult cardiovascular and metabolic diseases have received considerable attention, but the long-term consequences of early environments for human immune function have not been reported. We investigated the effects of pre- and postnatal environments on thymic hormone production in adolescents participating in an ongoing longitudinal study in the Philippines. Prospective data collected at birth, during y 1 of life, in childhood and in adolescence were used to predict plasma thymopoietin concentration in 14- to 15-y-old adolescents (n = 103). Thymopoietin concentration was compared for small-for-gestational-age and appropriate-for-gestational-age individuals while controlling for a range of postnatal exposures. Prenatal undernutrition was significantly associated with reduced thymopoietin production in interaction with the duration of exclusive breast-feeding (P = 0.006). Growth in length during y 1 of life was positively associated with adolescent thymopoietin production (P = 0.002). These associations remained significant after adjusting for a range of potentially confounding variables. These findings provide support for the importance of fetal and early infant programming of thymic function, and suggest that early environments may have long-term implications for immunocompetence and adult disease risk.
McDade
T W
TW
Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208-1310, USA. t-mcdale@northwestern.edu
Beck
M A
MA
Kuzawa
C W
CW
Adair
L S
LS
D000293:Adolescent; D001942:Breast Feeding; D002657:Child Development; D005260:Female; D005315:Fetal Diseases / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007236:Infant, Small for Gestational Age; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009748:Nutrition Disorders / Q000378:metabolism*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012016:Reference Values; D013946:Thymopoietins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000378:metabolism*; D013997:Time Factors
D013946:Thymopoietins