Skip to main content
PMC home page
Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology logoLink to Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology
. 1997 Sep;4(5):565–571. doi: 10.1128/cdli.4.5.565-571.1997

Immune responses in mothers of term and preterm very-low-birth-weight infants.

S Gennaro 1, W P Fehder 1, A Cnaan 1, R York 1, D E Campbell 1, P R Gallagher 1, S D Douglas 1
PMCID: PMC170597  PMID: 9302206

Abstract

Differences in the levels of immune cell subsets present in peripheral blood have been demonstrated based on sociodemographic factors such as age and race. Postpartal women, who are recovering from the immune changes that are concomitant with pregnancy, have lymphocyte and monocyte values that differ from other populations. A subgroup of postpartal women, mothers who deliver preterm very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) (< or = 1,500 g) infants, may have further differences in values of immune cell subsets and in immune functioning either because of hormonal factors or lifestyle changes or because of the stress they experience after their infant's birth and for the first few months of infant caretaking. This study examined anxiety, depression, and immune cell phenotypes in 30 mothers of VLBW infants and in 30 mothers of healthy term infants over the first 4 postpartal months to determine if mothers of preterm VLBW infants differed from mothers of healthy term infants in psychological and immunologic parameters. Additionally, lymphocyte proliferation and natural killer cell functional assays were performed in a subset of mothers. Mothers of VLBW infants had increased anxiety and decreased lymphocyte proliferation compared to mothers of term infants. When lymphocyte and monocyte subsets were compared over time between the two groups of mothers differences were found in CD8, CD20, CD3-/CD56+, CD14, and HLA class II Ia on monocytes. Mothers with high-fat diets had lower percentages of some monocytes (CD14), lymphocytes (CD4+/CD45RA+), and natural killer cells (CD3-/CD57+) during the first 4 postpartal months.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (207.1 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Barone J., Hebert J. R., Reddy M. M. Dietary fat and natural-killer-cell activity. Am J Clin Nutr. 1989 Oct;50(4):861–867. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/50.4.861. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bartrop R. W., Luckhurst E., Lazarus L., Kiloh L. G., Penny R. Depressed lymphocyte function after bereavement. Lancet. 1977 Apr 16;1(8016):834–836. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(77)92780-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Brooten D., Gennaro S., Brown L. P., Butts P., Gibbons A. L., Bakewell-Sachs S., Kumar S. P. Anxiety, depression, and hostility in mothers of preterm infants. Nurs Res. 1988 Jul-Aug;37(4):213–216. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Brooten D., Kumar S., Brown L. P., Butts P., Finkler S. A., Bakewell-Sachs S., Gibbons A., Delivoria-Papadopoulos M. A randomized clinical trial of early hospital discharge and home follow-up of very-low-birth-weight infants. N Engl J Med. 1986 Oct 9;315(15):934–939. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198610093151505. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Calabrese J. R., Kling M. A., Gold P. W. Alterations in immunocompetence during stress, bereavement, and depression: focus on neuroendocrine regulation. Am J Psychiatry. 1987 Sep;144(9):1123–1134. doi: 10.1176/ajp.144.9.1123. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Chandra R. K., Kumari S. Effects of nutrition on the immune system. Nutrition. 1994 May-Jun;10(3):207–210. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Chandra R. K. Nutrition and the immune system. Proc Nutr Soc. 1993 Feb;52(1):77–84. doi: 10.1079/pns19930039. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Costabel U., Bross K. J., Reuter C., Rühle K. H., Matthys H. Alterations in immunoregulatory T-cell subsets in cigarette smokers. A phenotypic analysis of bronchoalveolar and blood lymphocytes. Chest. 1986 Jul;90(1):39–44. doi: 10.1378/chest.90.1.39. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Evans D. L., Folds J. D., Petitto J. M., Golden R. N., Pedersen C. A., Corrigan M., Gilmore J. H., Silva S. G., Quade D., Ozer H. Circulating natural killer cell phenotypes in men and women with major depression. Relation to cytotoxic activity and severity of depression. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1992 May;49(5):388–395. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.1992.01820050052009. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Evans D. L., Leserman J., Perkins D. O., Stern R. A., Murphy C., Tamul K., Liao D., van der Horst C. M., Hall C. D., Folds J. D. Stress-associated reductions of cytotoxic T lymphocytes and natural killer cells in asymptomatic HIV infection. Am J Psychiatry. 1995 Apr;152(4):543–550. doi: 10.1176/ajp.152.4.543. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Evans D. L., Pedersen C. A., Folds J. D. Major depression and immunity: preliminary evidence of decreased natural killer cell populations. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 1988;12(5):739–748. doi: 10.1016/0278-5846(88)90019-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Evans D., Petitto J., Leserman J., Perkins D., Stern R., Folds J., Ozer H., Golden R. Stress, depression and natural killer cells: potential clinical relevance. Clin Neuropharmacol. 1992;15 (Suppl 1 Pt A):656A–657A. doi: 10.1097/00002826-199201001-00339. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Gennaro S., Fehder W. P., York R., Douglas S. D. Weight, nutrition, and immune status in postpartal women. Nurs Res. 1997 Jan-Feb;46(1):20–25. doi: 10.1097/00006199-199701000-00004. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Gennaro S., Fehder W., Gallagher P., Miller S., Douglas S. D., Campbell D. E. Lymphocyte, monocyte, and natural killer cell reference ranges in postpartal women. Clin Diagn Lab Immunol. 1997 Mar;4(2):195–201. doi: 10.1128/cdli.4.2.195-201.1997. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Gennaro S. Postpartal anxiety and depression in mothers of term and preterm infants. Nurs Res. 1988 Mar-Apr;37(2):82–85. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Gennaro S., York R., Brooten D. Anxiety and depression in mothers of low birthweight and very low birthweight infants: birth through 5 months. Issues Compr Pediatr Nurs. 1990 Apr-Jun;13(2):97–109. doi: 10.3109/01460869009009029. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Glaser R., Rice J., Speicher C. E., Stout J. C., Kiecolt-Glaser J. K. Stress depresses interferon production by leukocytes concomitant with a decrease in natural killer cell activity. Behav Neurosci. 1986 Oct;100(5):675–678. doi: 10.1037//0735-7044.100.5.675. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Hack M., Wright L. L., Shankaran S., Tyson J. E., Horbar J. D., Bauer C. R., Younes N. Very-low-birth-weight outcomes of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Neonatal Network, November 1989 to October 1990. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1995 Feb;172(2 Pt 1):457–464. doi: 10.1016/0002-9378(95)90557-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Herbert T. B., Cohen S. Stress and immunity in humans: a meta-analytic review. Psychosom Med. 1993 Jul-Aug;55(4):364–379. doi: 10.1097/00006842-199307000-00004. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Hübl W., Tlustos L., Erath A., Andert S., Bayer P. M. Proposed reference method for peripheral-blood monocyte counting using fluorescence-labelled monoclonal antibodies. Cytometry. 1996 Mar 15;26(1):69–74. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1097-0320(19960315)26:1<69::AID-CYTO11>3.0.CO;2-Q. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Jacobsen B. S., Munro B. H., Brooten D. A. Comparison of original and revised scoring systems for the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List. Nurs Res. 1996 Jan-Feb;45(1):57–60. doi: 10.1097/00006199-199601000-00011. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Kiecolt-Glaser J. K., Dura J. R., Speicher C. E., Trask O. J., Glaser R. Spousal caregivers of dementia victims: longitudinal changes in immunity and health. Psychosom Med. 1991 Jul-Aug;53(4):345–362. doi: 10.1097/00006842-199107000-00001. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Kiecolt-Glaser J. K., Fisher L. D., Ogrocki P., Stout J. C., Speicher C. E., Glaser R. Marital quality, marital disruption, and immune function. Psychosom Med. 1987 Jan-Feb;49(1):13–34. doi: 10.1097/00006842-198701000-00002. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Kiecolt-Glaser J. K., Glaser R., Shuttleworth E. C., Dyer C. S., Ogrocki P., Speicher C. E. Chronic stress and immunity in family caregivers of Alzheimer's disease victims. Psychosom Med. 1987 Sep-Oct;49(5):523–535. doi: 10.1097/00006842-198709000-00008. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Maki P. A., Newberne P. M. Dietary lipids and immune function. J Nutr. 1992 Mar;122(3 Suppl):610–614. doi: 10.1093/jn/122.suppl_3.610. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. McCoy J. P., Jr, Overton W. R. Quality control in flow cytometry for diagnostic pathology: II. A conspectus of reference ranges for lymphocyte immunophenotyping. Cytometry. 1994 Sep 15;18(3):129–139. doi: 10.1002/cyto.990180304. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Morimoto C., Letvin N. L., Boyd A. W., Hagan M., Brown H. M., Kornacki M. M., Schlossman S. F. The isolation and characterization of the human helper inducer T cell subset. J Immunol. 1985 Jun;134(6):3762–3769. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Mutch L., Newdick M., Lodwick A., Chalmers I. Secular changes in rehospitalization of very low birth weight infants. Pediatrics. 1986 Jul;78(1):164–171. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. O'Campo P., Faden R. R., Brown H., Gielen A. C. The impact of pregnancy on women's prenatal and postpartum smoking behavior. Am J Prev Med. 1992 Jan-Feb;8(1):8–13. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Qing G., Rajaraman K., Bortolussi R. Diminished priming of neonatal polymorphonuclear leukocytes by lipopolysaccharide is associated with reduced CD14 expression. Infect Immun. 1995 Jan;63(1):248–252. doi: 10.1128/iai.63.1.248-252.1995. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Reichert T., DeBruyère M., Deneys V., Tötterman T., Lydyard P., Yuksel F., Chapel H., Jewell D., Van Hove L., Linden J. Lymphocyte subset reference ranges in adult Caucasians. Clin Immunol Immunopathol. 1991 Aug;60(2):190–208. doi: 10.1016/0090-1229(91)90063-g. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Stagnaro-Green A., Roman S. H., Cobin R. H., el-Harazy E., Wallenstein S., Davies T. F. A prospective study of lymphocyte-initiated immunosuppression in normal pregnancy: evidence of a T-cell etiology for postpartum thyroid dysfunction. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1992 Mar;74(3):645–653. doi: 10.1210/jcem.74.3.1740500. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Termini L., Brooten D., Brown L., Gennaro S., York R. Reasons for acute care visits and rehospitalizations in very low-birthweight infants. Neonatal Netw. 1990 Apr;8(5):23–26. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  34. Wright S. D., Ramos R. A., Tobias P. S., Ulevitch R. J., Mathison J. C. CD14, a receptor for complexes of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and LPS binding protein. Science. 1990 Sep 21;249(4975):1431–1433. doi: 10.1126/science.1698311. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES