Prenatal Maternal Inflammation and Transdiagnostic Outcomes in Offspring at Mid-Life

Abstract

Prenatal maternal inflammation (PNMI) is associated with neuropsychiatric outcomes in offspring, including depression and schizophrenia. Despite high levels of comorbidity between these disorders, and overlap in symptomatology, longitudinal examinations of PNMI and its relationship to symptom-level, behavioral outcomes in adulthood have yet to be examined. In both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies conducted within the postnatal period, inflammation is associated with emergence of “sickness behavior,” a cluster of symptoms including dysregulation of appetite, sleep, energy, and motivation. The present studies examined the relationship between maternal levels of specific inflammatory biomarkers during the first and second trimesters of pregnancy, and dimensions of depressive symptomatology, subtypes of anhedonia, and subjective sleep quality/duration, in offspring from the Child Health and Development Studies (CHDS) at mid-life (ages 57-61). The roles of fetal sex and timing of exposure also were explored. First trimester IL-6 was associated with poorer subjective sleep quality in offspring. In sex-stratified analyses, results seem to diverge by sex. Higher first trimester levels of inflammation in mothers pregnant with in male offspring were associated with greater consummatory pleasure and poorer subjective sleep quality. Alternatively, higher second trimester levels of inflammation in mothers pregnant with female offspring were associated with lower anticipatory pleasure, only prior to post hoc correction. These studies expand the developmental scope of examinations of the relationship between PNMI and symptom-level outcomes to mid-life and provide meaningful insight into areas for prevention and intervention across the lifespan.