Prenatal, perinatal, and heritable influences on cord blood immune responses

Background: Maternal and perinatal environmental exposures, as well as inherited factors, may influence neonatal immune responses.Objective: To determine relations of maternal and perinatal exposures to antigen-specific cord blood lymphoproliferative responses.Methods: In 427 newborns from a Boston pregnancy/birth cohort, lymphoproliferative responses in cord blood mononuclear cells to stimulation with cockroach (Bla 2), house dust mite (Der f 1), ovalbumin, and mitogen phytohemagglutinin were measured as stimulation index (SI). We used the Wilcoxon rank sum and chi(2) tests to evaluate predictors of ovalbumin SI as a continuous ranked or dichotomous outcome. We used t test and Spearman correlation for univariate testing and linear regression to evaluate predictors of natural log-transformed Bla a 2, Der f 1, and phytohemagglutinin SI. Logistic multivariate regression was applied to evaluate predictors of Bla g 2, Der f 1, and phytohemagglutinin SI dichotomized at 2 or at the median for phytohemagglutinin.Results: Maternal smoking during pregnancy, inadequate or excessive maternal weight gain during pregnancy, neonate black race/ethnicity (compared with white), and Apgar score less than 8 were each independently associated with increased cord blood mononuclear cell proliferative responses to stimulation with Bla g 2 and/or Der f 1. Maternal history of asthma was associated only with increased lymphoproliferative response to ovalbumin stimulation.Conclusions: Distinct fetal and perinatal exposures and black race/ethnicity may be associated with increased cord blood lymphoproliferative responses. The implications of these findings for future development of allergy or asthma are, as yet, unknown.