Ehrlich Katherine B, Miller Gregory E, Chen Edith
Northwestern University.
Dev Psychopathol. 2015 Nov;27(4 Pt 2):1547-54. doi: 10.1017/S0954579415000930.
Asthma is a chronic respiratory disorder that affects over 7 million children in the United States. Evidence indicates that family stressors are associated with worsening of asthma symptoms, and some research suggests that these stressful experiences engender changes in children's immune systems in ways that exacerbate airway inflammation and contribute to both acute and chronic asthma symptoms. We examined the association between observed experiences of parent-child conflict and the expression of signaling molecules involved in the transduction of anti-inflammatory signals that regulate airway inflammation and obstruction. Fifty-seven children and their parents participated in a conflict task, and coders rated interactions for evidence of harsh and supportive behaviors. Children reported on their perceptions of parental support and reported on their daily asthma symptoms for 2 weeks. We collected peripheral blood in children to measure leukocyte expression of messenger RNA for the glucocorticoid receptor and the β2-adrenergic receptor. Analyses revealed that harsh conflict behaviors were associated with decreased expression of both messenger RNAs and more severe asthma symptoms. Neither supportive behaviors nor perceived parental support was associated with gene expression or asthma symptoms. These findings suggest that harsh interactions with parents are associated with downregulation of key anti-inflammatory signaling molecules and difficulties breathing in children with asthma. Children with asthma who are also victims of maltreatment may be particularly susceptible to transcriptional changes in immune cells that could worsen asthma over time.
哮喘是一种慢性呼吸系统疾病，在美国影响着超过700万儿童。有证据表明，家庭压力源与哮喘症状的恶化有关，一些研究表明，这些压力经历会以加剧气道炎症并导致急性和慢性哮喘症状的方式引起儿童免疫系统的变化。我们研究了观察到的亲子冲突经历与参与调节气道炎症和阻塞的抗炎信号转导的信号分子表达之间的关联。57名儿童及其父母参与了一项冲突任务，编码员对互动中严厉和支持性行为的证据进行了评分。孩子们报告了他们对父母支持的看法，并报告了他们两周内的日常哮喘症状。我们采集了儿童的外周血，以测量糖皮质激素受体和β2-肾上腺素能受体信使核糖核酸的白细胞表达。分析显示，严厉的冲突行为与两种信使核糖核酸的表达降低以及更严重的哮喘症状有关。支持性行为和感知到的父母支持均与基因表达或哮喘症状无关。这些发现表明，与父母的严厉互动与关键抗炎信号分子的下调以及哮喘儿童的呼吸困难有关。也是虐待受害者的哮喘儿童可能特别容易受到免疫细胞转录变化的影响，随着时间的推移，这种变化可能会使哮喘恶化。
