Amoudruz Petra, Holmlund Ulrika, Schollin Jens, Sverremark-Ekström Eva, Montgomery Scott M
Department of Immunology, Wenner-Gren Institute, Stockholm University, Sweden.
Pediatr Allergy Immunol. 2009 Feb;20(1):19-29. doi: 10.1111/j.1399-3038.2008.00754.x. Epub 2008 May 15.
Populations in high infectious exposure countries are at low risk of some immune-mediated diseases such as Crohn's disease and allergy. This low risk is maintained upon immigration to an industrialized country, but the offspring of such immigrants have a higher immune-mediated disease risk than the indigenous population. We hypothesize that early life exposures in a developing country shape the maternal immune system, which could have implications for the offspring born in a developed country with a low infectious load. The aim of this study was to investigate if exposures in childhood (indicated by country of origin) and subsequent exposures influence immunologic characteristics relevant to stimulation of offspring. Breast milk components among 64 mothers resident in Sweden, 32 of whom immigrated from a developing country, were examined using the ELISA and Cytometric Bead Array methods. Immigrants from a developing country had statistically significantly higher levels of breast milk interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-8 and transforming growth factor-beta1. A larger number of previous pregnancies were associated with down-regulation of several substances, statistically significant for soluble CD14 and IL-8. The results suggest that maternal country of birth may influence adult immune characteristics, potentially relevant to disease risk in offspring. Such a mechanism may explain the higher immune-mediated disease risk among children of migrants from a developing to developed country. Older siblings may influence disease risk through the action of previous pregnancies on maternal immune characteristics.
高传染性暴露国家的人群患某些免疫介导疾病如克罗恩病和过敏症的风险较低。移民到工业化国家后，这种低风险仍会持续存在，但这些移民的后代患免疫介导疾病的风险比本土人群更高。我们推测，发展中国家的早期生活暴露会塑造母体免疫系统，这可能会对出生在低感染负荷发达国家的后代产生影响。本研究的目的是调查童年时期的暴露情况（以原籍国表示）以及随后的暴露是否会影响与后代刺激相关的免疫特征。我们使用酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）和细胞计数珠阵列方法检测了64名居住在瑞典的母亲的母乳成分，其中32名母亲来自发展中国家。来自发展中国家的移民母乳中的白细胞介素-6（IL-6）、IL-8和转化生长因子-β1水平在统计学上显著更高。更多的既往妊娠与几种物质的下调有关，可溶性CD14和IL-8在统计学上有显著意义。结果表明，母亲的出生国可能会影响成人的免疫特征，这可能与后代的疾病风险有关。这种机制可能解释了从发展中国家移民到发达国家的儿童中免疫介导疾病风险较高的现象。年长的兄弟姐妹可能通过既往妊娠对母体免疫特征的作用来影响疾病风险。
