Dysregulation of immune system markers, gut microbiota and short-chain fatty acid production following prenatal alcohol exposure: A developmental perspective.

Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) can severely impact fetal development, including alterations to the developing immune system. Immune perturbations, in tandem with gut dysbiosis, have been linked to brain and behavioral dysfunction, but this relationship is poorly understood in the context of PAE. This study takes an ontogenetic approach to evaluate PAE-induced alterations to brain and serum cytokine levels and both the composition and metabolic output of the gut microbiota.

Examining the relationships between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), cortisol, and inflammation among young adults.

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with dysregulation of inflammation and cortisol. The objectives of this study were to use principal component analysis to explore the inflammatory biomarker data to create inflammation composite variables; to examine the relationship between these composite measures of inflammation with ACEs and cortisol; and to assess whether these relationships were moderated by sex. The analysis included 232 young adults from the Niagara Longitudinal Heart Study (NLHS).