Cord blood islet autoantibodies are related to stress in the mother during pregnancy.
A 2-month psychological questionnaire concerning pregnancy was answered by 20,920 nondiabetic mothers of singletons. Retrospective analysis showed increased levels of islet autoantibodies (IA) in 290 (1.4%) newborns. High IA levels in the child's cord blood correlated strongly with IA levels in the mother (GADA r = 0.91, P < 0.0001; IA-2A r = 0.75, P = 0.0001). High IA levels were found in newborns whose mothers during pregnancy had been more worried than usual (P = 0.04), had worried that the child would be sick (P = 0.01) or not survive (P = 0.002), or had experienced serious life events, like "serious accident in the family" (P < 0.0001) or "experienced violence" (P = 0.02). Associations with increased worries by the mother remained in newborns with high type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM)-human leukocyte antigen (HLA) risk, but not in non-HLA risk children. The prospective follow-up of these children will determine the importance of this early IA for postnatal islet autoimmunity, type 1 diabetes, or both.
Lernmark
Barbro
B
Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, CRC, 214 02 Malmö, Sweden. Barbro.Lernmark@med.lu.se
Lynch
Kristian
K
Lernmark
Ake
A
D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood*; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000276:immunology; D005968:Glutamate Decarboxylase / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007515:Islets of Langerhans / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D008431:Maternal-Fetal Exchange / Q000276:immunology*; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000276:immunology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D001323:Autoantibodies; D005968:Glutamate Decarboxylase