Maternal Inflammation During Pregnancy Linked to Lower Infant Cognitive and Communication Skills, Study Reveals

"Our findings indicate a notable link between elevated Inflammation related Prenatal Adversity Index (IPAI) scores and reduced performance in cognitive abilities, receptive communication, expressive communication, and fine motor skills," the researchers wrote in BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth. Additionally, they found an increased risk of developmental challenges, particularly in cognition and receptive communication.

The recent Maternal Immune Activation (MIA) theory proposes that systemic inflammation in mothers may play a key role in linking prenatal adversities to neurodevelopmental disorders in their children. However, as pregnant individuals often face multiple adversities simultaneously, it remains uncertain whether a quantitative index can be created to assess the level of inflammation-related exposure. Furthermore, it is unclear how this index correlates with neurodevelopmental delays in offspring.

Against the above background, Yichun Guan, Department of Reproductive Medicine Center, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China, and colleagues sought to develop an IPAI and to investigate the relationships between IPAI and the neurodevelopment of children at one year of age, utilizing data from the Jiangsu Birth Cohort (JBC).

For this purpose, the researchers included 3,051 infants from the JBC in the analysis. IPAI was developed using data gathered from mothers. Neurodevelopmental outcomes were evaluated at one year of age using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third Edition, screening test. Multivariate linear regression and Poisson regression models explored the associations between IPAI and offspring neurodevelopment.

The following were the key findings of the study:

• Compared with the “low IPAI” group, offspring with the “high IPAI” have lower cognition, receptive communication, expressive communication, and fine motor scores.
• The adjusted β were − 0.23, -0.47, -0.30, and − 0.20.
• There was an elevated risk for noncompetent development of cognition and receptive communication among the “high IPAI”.
• The relative risk [RR] were 1.35 and 1.37.

In this prospective birth cohort study, the authors developed the Inflammation-Related Prenatal Adversity Index for the first time, incorporating six maternal adversity factors. The findings indicate a significant association between higher IPAI scores and reduced performance in cognitive abilities, receptive communication, expressive communication, and fine motor skills, along with an increased risk of developmental challenges in cognition and receptive communication.

"These results provide substantial population-level evidence supporting the Maternal Immune Activation hypothesis, and underscore the critical importance of mitigating maternal inflammation-related adversities to prevent neurodevelopmental delays in infants," the researchers concluded.

Reference:

Gan, M., Zhu, X., Wang, W. et al. Associations of inflammation related prenatal adversities with neurodevelopment of offspring in one year: a longitudinal prospective birth cohort study. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth 24, 636 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-024-06839-8