Browsing by Subject "Maternal"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Cord blood sphingolipids are associated with atopic dermatitis and wheeze in the first year of life
    (Elsevier, 2022) Hoji, Aki; Kumar, Rajesh; Gern, James E.; Bendixsen, Casper G.; Seroogy, Christine M.; Cook-Mills, Joan M.; Pediatrics, School of Medicine
    Background: Allergen-sensitized pregnant mice have increased plasma levels of the lipids β-glucosylceramides (βGlcCers) that are transplacentally transferred to the fetus, increased subsets of proinflammatory dendritic cells in the fetal liver and pup lung, and increased allergen-induced offspring lung inflammation. Objective: Our aim was to determine whether these preclinical observations extend to a human association of βGlcCers with wheeze and allergic disease in the prospective Wisconsin Infant Study Cohort. Methods: We measured 74 lipids in cord blood plasma by using mass spectrometry detection of sphingolipids, eicosanoids, and docosinoids, as well as an ELISA for 13-hydroxyoctadecadienoic acid. Lipid profiles were determined by unbiased Uniform Manifold Approximation and Projection dimensional reduction machine learning. Lipid profiles and a proinflammatory lipid index were analyzed for association with maternal allergy and childhood outcomes of wheeze, atopic dermatitis, cord blood leukocytes, and total IgE level at age 1 year. Results: Uniform Manifold Approximation and Projection analysis of lipids defined 8 cluster-specific plasma lipid profiles. Cluster 6 had significantly lower levels of plasma βGlcCers and a higher frequency of cord blood plasmacytoid dendritic cells that mediate anti-inflammatory responses, which is consistent with an anti-inflammatory profile. For clusters and for each infant, a proinflammatory lipid index was calculated to reflect the sum of the proinflammatory lipids minus the anti-inflammatory lipids that were significantly different than in cluster 6. The cluster proinflammatory lipid index was associated with cord blood basophil frequency and with wheeze and atopic dermatitis in the first year of life. The infant inflammatory lipid index was associated with increased risk of wheeze in the first year of life. Conclusion: The cord blood proinflammatory lipid index is associated with early-life atopic dermatitis and wheezing.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Growth Patterns of Uninfected Children Born to Women Living with Perinatally- Versus Non-Perinatally-Acquired HIV
    (Wolters Kluwer, 2022) Yu, Wendy; Jacobson, Denise L.; Williams, Paige L.; Patel, Kunjal; Geffner, Mitchell E.; Van Dyke, Russell B.; Kacanek, Deborah; DiMeglio, Linda A.; Jao, Jennifer; Pediatric HIV/AIDS Cohort Study (PHACS); Pediatrics, School of Medicine
    Objective: The aim of this study was to compare long-term growth between HIV-exposed uninfected children (CHEU) born to women with perinatally acquired HIV (CHEU-PHIV) and CHEU born to women with nonperinatally acquired HIV (CHEU-NPHIV). Design: A longitudinal analysis of anthropometric measurements from a U.S.-based multisite prospective cohort study enrolling CHEU and their mothers since April 2007. Methods: CHEU were evaluated for growth annually from birth through age 5 and again at age 7 years. Z-scores were calculated using U.S. growth references for weight (WTZ), height (HTZ), and weight-for-length or BMI-for-age (WLZ/BMIZ). Mid-upper arm circumference (MUACZ) and triceps skinfold thickness (TSFZ) Z-scores were obtained from ages 1 and 2, respectively, through age 7 years. Piecewise mixed-effects models, overall and stratified by race and sex, were fit to assess differential growth patterns across age by maternal PHIV status. Results: One thousand four hundred fifty-four singleton infants (286 CHEU-PHIV and 1168 CHEU-NPHIV) were included. CHEU-PHIV had slower growth rates than CHEU-NPHIV for WTZ and WLZ/BMIZ at earlier ages and continued to have lower mean WTZ [-0.27, 95% confidence interval (95% CI): -0.50, -0.04] and WLZ/BMIZ (-0.39, 95% CI: -0.67, -0.11) through age 7. Among non-Black boys, CHEU-PHIV had slightly lower WTZ and WLZ/BMIZ at birth than CHEU-NPHIV and these growth deficits persisted through age 7 years. Conclusion: Compared with CHEU-NPHIV, CHEU-PHIV had diminished growth in early childhood with differences most pronounced among non-Black male children. Further longitudinal follow-up of CHEU-PHIV into young adulthood is needed to understand whether these early effects of maternal PHIV status on growth persist and have other health consequences.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Kinetics and specificity of paternal mitochondrial elimination in Caenorhabditis elegans
    (SpringerNature, 2016-09) Wang, Yang; Zhang, Yi; Chen, Lianwan; Liang, Qian; Yin, Xiao-Ming; Miao, Long; Kang, Byung-Ho; Xue, Ding; Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, IU School of Medicine
    In most eukaryotes, mitochondria are inherited maternally. The autophagy process is critical for paternal mitochondrial elimination (PME) in Caenorhabditis elegans, but how paternal mitochondria, but not maternal mitochondria, are selectively targeted for degradation is poorly understood. Here we report that mitochondrial dynamics have a profound effect on PME. A defect in fission of paternal mitochondria delays PME, whereas a defect in fusion of paternal mitochondria accelerates PME. Surprisingly, a defect in maternal mitochondrial fusion delays PME, which is reversed by a fission defect in maternal mitochondria or by increasing maternal mitochondrial membrane potential using oligomycin. Electron microscopy and tomography analyses reveal that a proportion of maternal mitochondria are compromised when they fail to fuse normally, leading to their competition for the autophagy machinery with damaged paternal mitochondria and delayed PME. Our study indicates that mitochondrial dynamics play a critical role in regulating both the kinetics and the specificity of PME.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    A qualitative study exploring the relationship between mothers' vaccine hesitancy and health beliefs with COVID-19 vaccination intention and prevention during the early pandemic months
    (Taylor & Francis, 2021) Walker, Kimberly K.; Head, Katharine J.; Owens, Heather; Zimet, Gregory D.; Communication Studies, School of Liberal Arts
    Vaccine hesitancy is a top ten global health threat that can negatively impact COVID-19 vaccine uptake. It is assumed that vaccine refusers hold deep, negative beliefs, while acceptors hold strong, positive beliefs. However, vaccine hesitancy exists along a continuum and is multidimensional, varying by time, place, vaccine, subgroup, and person. Guided by the Health Belief Model and vaccine hesitancy frameworks, the study purpose was to qualitatively explore maternal COVID-19 threat perceptions and willingness to accept a COVID-19 vaccine in light of their expressed vaccine hesitancy toward past school required and routinely recommended vaccines and the HPV vaccine for their children. Researchers conducted twenty-five interviews with US Midwestern mothers during the early COVID-19 pandemic months. Mothers were grouped by vaccine hesitancy categories and thematic analysis was used to analyze the data within and across categories. Results showed that prior vaccine hesitancy attitudes and behavior did not fully capture maternal acceptance of COVID-19 vaccine or perception of COVID-19 threat. Perceptions of COVID-19 threat did influence mothers' decisions about COVID-19 protective behaviors (e.g., handwashing, mask wearing, and distancing). However, mothers were hesitant to accept the COVID-19 vaccine across vaccine hesitancy categories, primarily citing concerns about safety, efficacy, and confusion over conflicting information as barriers to immediate COVID-19 vaccine acceptance. Findings indicate that mothers cannot be grouped together based on hesitancy about, or acceptance of, other vaccines for purposes of assuming COVID-19 preventive behavior adherence or anticipated COVID-19 vaccine acceptance.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    β-Glucosylceramide From Allergic Mothers Enhances Offspring Responsiveness to Allergen
    (Frontiers Media, 2021-02) Walker, Matthew T.; Ferrie, Ryan P.; Hoji, Aki; Schroeder-Carter, Lindsay M.; Cohen, Jacob D.; Schnaar, Ronald L.; Cook-Mills, Joan M.; Pediatrics, School of Medicine
    In animals and humans, offspring of allergic mothers have increased responsiveness to allergen and the allergen-specificity of the offspring can be different than that of the mother. In our preclinical models, the mother's allergic responses influence development of the fetus and offspring by elevating numbers of cells in dendritic cell subsets. A major question is the identity of maternal factors of allergic mothers that alter offspring development of responsiveness to allergen. Lipids are altered during allergic responses and lipids are transported to the fetus for growth and formation of fetal membranes. We hypothesized that pro-inflammatory lipids, that are elevated in allergic mothers, are transported to the fetus and regulate fetal immune development. We demonstrate in this report that there was a significant 2-fold increase in β-glucosylceramides (βGlcCer) in allergic mothers, the fetal liver and her offspring. The βGlcCer were transported from mother's plasma, across the placenta, to the fetus and in breastmilk to the offspring. Administration of βGlcCer to non-allergic mothers was sufficient for offspring responses to allergen. Importantly, maternal administration of a clinically relevant pharmacological inhibitor of βGlcCer synthase returned βGlcCer to normal levels in the allergic mothers and her offspring and blocked the offspring increase in dendritic cell subsets and offspring allergen responsiveness. In summary, allergic mothers had increased βGlcCer that was transported to offspring and mediated increases in offspring DCs and responsiveness to allergen. These data have a significant impact on our understanding of mechanisms for development of allergies in offspring of allergic mothers and have the potential to lead to novel interventions that significantly impact risk for allergic disease early in life.