Sex-specific associations between maternal prenatal inflammation and offspring cortical morphology in youth: A harmonised study across four birth cohorts
Maternal immune activation (MIA) during pregnancy is implicated in offspring psychiatric disorders. However, it is unknown to what extent MIA affects neurodevelopment, particularly cerebrocortical anatomy, in the general population, and whether effects differ by sex. The current study used vertex-wise statistics to examine the association between maternal prenatal CRP, an archetypal systemic inflammatory marker, and offspring cortical thickness, surface area, and volume, in 2635 mother-child dyads (5.4-26.5 years) from three population-based cohorts, and one clinical cohort enriched for presence of inflammation markers. Maternal CRP within a normal physiological range (<10 mg/L) exhibited sex-specific quadratic associations with cortical morphological measures in 2 regions in males and 1 region in females at childhood. Elevated (>10 mg/L) CRP was associated with regional cortical morphology in females and in a pooled sample of sexes. Overall, MIA is associated with cortical development in a regional and sex-specific manner in studies spanning childhood to adulthood.
Authors
- Cristina Campoy (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9860-6785)
- Lassi Björnholm (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3371-4638)
- Martta Kerkelä (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1181-2632)
- Andrés Catena (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0775-5751)
- Golam Mohammed Khandaker (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4935-9220)
- Aaron Barron (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0905-6102)
- Hatim Azaryah (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8140-2519)
- Elmo P. Pulli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3871-8563)
- Juha Veijola (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4139-9981)
- Jetro J. Tuulari (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1797-8000)
- Linnéa Karlsson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4725-0176)
- Minna Lukkarinen
- Hasse Karlsson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4992-1893)
- Aimo Niskanen
- Henning W. Tiemeier (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4395-1397)
- Ryan L. Muetzel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3215-1287)
Institutions
- Universidad de Granada (ES)
- Oulu University Hospital (FI)
- University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust (GB)
- Erasmus MC (NL)
- Turku University Hospital (FI)
- Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria de Granada (ES)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Brain Behavior and Immunity
- Published
- 2024-11-05
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2024.11.010
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Birth, Development, and Health
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.22
Funders
- Foundation for the National Institutes of Health
- Suomen Lääketieteen Säätiö
- Alfred Kordelinin Säätiö
- Wellcome Trust
- NIHR Bristol Biomedical Research Centre
- National Institute for Health and Care Research
- Irish Research Council
- Academy of Finland
- Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
- Juho Vainion Säätiö
- Signe ja Ane Gyllenbergin Säätiö
- Emil Aaltosen Säätiö
- Orionin Tutkimussäätiö
- Stichting Vrienden van het Sophia
- OLVI-Säätiö
- Turun Yliopistosäätiö
- National Institutes of Health
- Medical Research Council