Objectives: Previous studies found that children with siblings, farm residence, and other proxies of greater microbial contacts had lower rates of hyper-responsive immune disorders. Yet, scientific debate persists regarding whether the human immune system is educated in early life primarily as a function of pathogenic or benign microbial exposures, or both. Furthermore, pregnancy relies on women's intrinsic immunosuppressive function, yet it remained unknown how immunoregulation in pregnant women relates to early-life microbial exposures.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProblem: Regulatory B-cells (Bregs, CD19CD24CD38) are a specialized B-cell subset that suppresses immune responses and potentially contribute to the maintenance of an immune-privileged environment for fetal development during pregnancy. However, little is known about the surrounding immunological environment of Bregs in gestational physiology. The relationship of regulatory T-cells (Tregs, CD4CD25CD127FoxP3) to Bregs in coordinating immunoregulation during pregnancy is unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEvol Med Public Health
October 2024
Perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs) are estimated to affect as many as 17.7% of mothers in agricultural and postindustrial societies. Various lines of research converge to suggest that PMADs may be 'diseases of modernity', arising from a mismatch between the environments in which humans evolved over hundreds of thousands of years and contemporary postindustrial lifestyles.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Pregnancy is a sensitive period of development in adult life characterized by massive changes in physical, emotional, and cognitive function. Such changes may be adaptive, e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEthnic discrimination during pregnancy is linked to maternal psychological distress, adverse birth outcomes and increased offspring morbidity and mortality. An evolutionary perspective reframes offspring health issues as a risk to maternal fitness. We argue that kin may be evolutionarily motivated to buffer psychosocial stressors for the mother during pregnancy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPica, the urge to consume items generally not considered food, such as dirt, raw starch, and ice, are particularly common among pregnant women. However, the biology of pica in pregnancy is not well understood. Therefore, this study aimed to assess how pica relates to endocrine stress and immune biomarkers in a cohort of pregnant Latina women in Southern California.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Experiencing symptoms of psychological distress during pregnancy is common and has been linked to dysregulated immune functioning. In this context, immunoregulatory function is especially relevant because of its crucial role in establishment and maintenance of healthy pregnancy. However, little research has examined associations between women's prenatal psychological distress and immunoregulatory biomarkers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPsychoneuroendocrinology
February 2024
Objectives: Little is known about how physical contact at birth and early caregiving environments influence the colonization of the infant gastrointestinal microbiome. We investigated how infant contact with caregivers at birth and within the first 2 weeks of life relates to the composition of the gastrointestinal microbiome in a sample of U.S.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFResearch suggests that the 2016 US election was a potential stressor among Latinos residing in the United States. Sociopolitical stressors targeted toward ethnic minority communities and become embodied through psychosocial distress. The current study investigates if and how sociopolitical stressors related to the 45th President, Donald Trump, and his administration are associated with psychological distress in early pregnancy of Latina women living in Southern California during the second half of his term.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInfant social-emotional development may be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This study investigated associations between maternal pre- and postnatal pandemic-related concerns and social-emotional developmental risk. Data, collected in 2020-2021, came from 220 mothers (87% white, 6% Hispanic, 1% Black, 3% Asian, 1% American Indian, M = 32.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: As part of the human reproductive strategy, mothers receive childcare assistance from others. For kin, allomothers are adaptively incentivized to provide assistance due to inclusive fitness benefits. Previous studies across a broad range of populations identify grandmothers as particularly consistent allomothers.
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