Early Life Stress Is Associated with Alterations in Lymphocyte Subsets Independent of Increased Inflammation in Adolescents
Early life stress (ELS) is linked to an elevated risk of poor health and early mortality, with emerging evidence pointing to the pivotal role of the immune system in long-term health outcomes. While recent research has focused on the impact of ELS on inflammation, this study examined the impact of E...
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MDPI AG
2024-02-01
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| Series: | Biomolecules |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2218-273X/14/3/262 |
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| author | Brie M. Reid Christopher Desjardins Bharat Thyagarajan Michael A. Linden Megan Gunnar |
| author_facet | Brie M. Reid Christopher Desjardins Bharat Thyagarajan Michael A. Linden Megan Gunnar |
| author_sort | Brie M. Reid |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Early life stress (ELS) is linked to an elevated risk of poor health and early mortality, with emerging evidence pointing to the pivotal role of the immune system in long-term health outcomes. While recent research has focused on the impact of ELS on inflammation, this study examined the impact of ELS on immune function, including CMV seropositivity, inflammatory cytokines, and lymphocyte cell subsets in an adolescent cohort. This study used data from the Early Life Stress and Cardiometabolic Health in Adolescence Study (N = 191, aged 12 to 21 years, N = 95 exposed to ELS). We employed multiple regression to investigate the association between ELS, characterized by early institutional care, cytomegalovirus (CMV) seropositivity (determined by chemiluminescent immunoassay), inflammation (CRP, IL-6, and TNF-a determined by ELISA), and twenty-one immune cell subsets characterized by flow cytometry (sixteen T cell subsets and five B cell subsets). Results reveal a significant association between ELS and lymphocytes that was independent of the association between ELS and inflammation: ELS was associated with increased effector memory helper T cells, effector memory cytotoxic T cells, senescent T cells, senescent B cells, and IgD− memory B cells compared to non-adopted youth. ELS was also associated with reduced percentages of helper T cells and naive cytotoxic T cells. Exploratory analyses found that the association between ELS and fewer helper T cells and increased cytotoxic T cells remained even in cytomegalovirus (CMV) seronegative youth. These findings suggest that ELS is associated with cell subsets that are linked to early mortality risk in older populations and markers of replicative senescence, separate from inflammation, in adolescents. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T18:30:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d9a655165ea0460d99e0211732d080c8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2218-273X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T18:30:38Z |
| publishDate | 2024-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Biomolecules |
| spelling | doaj.art-d9a655165ea0460d99e0211732d080c82024-03-27T13:27:48ZengMDPI AGBiomolecules2218-273X2024-02-0114326210.3390/biom14030262Early Life Stress Is Associated with Alterations in Lymphocyte Subsets Independent of Increased Inflammation in AdolescentsBrie M. Reid0Christopher Desjardins1Bharat Thyagarajan2Michael A. Linden3Megan Gunnar4Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USASaint Michael’s College, Colchester, VT 05439, USADepartment of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USADepartment of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USAInstitute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USAEarly life stress (ELS) is linked to an elevated risk of poor health and early mortality, with emerging evidence pointing to the pivotal role of the immune system in long-term health outcomes. While recent research has focused on the impact of ELS on inflammation, this study examined the impact of ELS on immune function, including CMV seropositivity, inflammatory cytokines, and lymphocyte cell subsets in an adolescent cohort. This study used data from the Early Life Stress and Cardiometabolic Health in Adolescence Study (N = 191, aged 12 to 21 years, N = 95 exposed to ELS). We employed multiple regression to investigate the association between ELS, characterized by early institutional care, cytomegalovirus (CMV) seropositivity (determined by chemiluminescent immunoassay), inflammation (CRP, IL-6, and TNF-a determined by ELISA), and twenty-one immune cell subsets characterized by flow cytometry (sixteen T cell subsets and five B cell subsets). Results reveal a significant association between ELS and lymphocytes that was independent of the association between ELS and inflammation: ELS was associated with increased effector memory helper T cells, effector memory cytotoxic T cells, senescent T cells, senescent B cells, and IgD− memory B cells compared to non-adopted youth. ELS was also associated with reduced percentages of helper T cells and naive cytotoxic T cells. Exploratory analyses found that the association between ELS and fewer helper T cells and increased cytotoxic T cells remained even in cytomegalovirus (CMV) seronegative youth. These findings suggest that ELS is associated with cell subsets that are linked to early mortality risk in older populations and markers of replicative senescence, separate from inflammation, in adolescents.https://www.mdpi.com/2218-273X/14/3/262early life stressinflammationT cellsB cellssenescenceadolescence |
| spellingShingle | Brie M. Reid Christopher Desjardins Bharat Thyagarajan Michael A. Linden Megan Gunnar Early Life Stress Is Associated with Alterations in Lymphocyte Subsets Independent of Increased Inflammation in Adolescents Biomolecules early life stress inflammation T cells B cells senescence adolescence |
| title | Early Life Stress Is Associated with Alterations in Lymphocyte Subsets Independent of Increased Inflammation in Adolescents |
| title_full | Early Life Stress Is Associated with Alterations in Lymphocyte Subsets Independent of Increased Inflammation in Adolescents |
| title_fullStr | Early Life Stress Is Associated with Alterations in Lymphocyte Subsets Independent of Increased Inflammation in Adolescents |
| title_full_unstemmed | Early Life Stress Is Associated with Alterations in Lymphocyte Subsets Independent of Increased Inflammation in Adolescents |
| title_short | Early Life Stress Is Associated with Alterations in Lymphocyte Subsets Independent of Increased Inflammation in Adolescents |
| title_sort | early life stress is associated with alterations in lymphocyte subsets independent of increased inflammation in adolescents |
| topic | early life stress inflammation T cells B cells senescence adolescence |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2218-273X/14/3/262 |
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