Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK; MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, UK; Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, South Africa.
Brain Behav Immun. 2022 Feb;100:112-120. doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2021.11.001. Epub 2021 Nov 15.
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with increased risk of non-communicable diseases in adulthood, potentially mediated by chronic low-grade inflammation. Glycoprotein acetyls (GlycA) is a marker of chronic and cumulative inflammation. We investigated associations between ACEs and GlycA at different ages, in two generations of the population-based Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) birth cohort.
ALSPAC offspring's total ACE scores were generated for two age periods using prospectively collected data: 0-7y and 0-17y. GlycA was measured using high-resolution proton nuclear magnetic resonance at mean ages 8y, 18y, and 24y. Sample sizes ranged from: n = 5116 (8y) to n = 3085 (24y). ALSPAC mothers (n = 4634) retrospectively reported ACEs experienced before age 18y and GlycA was assessed at mean age 49y. We used multivariable linear regression to estimate associations between ACEs (total ACE score and individual ACEs) and subsequent GlycA in both samples, adjusting for key confounders.
Mean GlycA levels were similar in offspring and mothers and over time. In offspring, there was no evidence that ACEs (total score or individual ACE) were associated with GlycA at age 8y or 18y, or 24y after adjustment for maternal age at birth and parity, maternal marital status, household occupational social class, maternal education, maternal smoking, own ethnicity, sex, and age in months. In mothers, there was evidence of a positive association between the total ACE score and GlycA at age 49y (adjusted mean difference 0.007 mmol/L; 95%CI: 0.003, 0.01). Emotional neglect was the only individual ACE associated with higher GlycA after adjusting for confounders and other ACEs.
Results suggest the association between ACEs and GlycA may emerge in middle age. Future research should explore the extent to which inflammation in adulthood mediates well-documented associations between ACEs and adverse health outcomes in later life.
不良的童年经历（ACEs）与成年后患非传染性疾病的风险增加有关，其潜在机制可能是慢性低度炎症。糖蛋白乙酰基（GlycA）是一种慢性和累积性炎症的标志物。我们在基于人群的阿冯纵向研究父母和孩子（ALSPAC）出生队列的两代人中，研究了 ACEs 与不同年龄段 GlycA 之间的关联。
使用前瞻性收集的数据，针对两个年龄段生成了 ALSPAC 后代的总 ACE 评分：0-7 岁和 0-17 岁。使用高分辨率质子核磁共振在平均年龄 8 岁、18 岁和 24 岁时测量 GlycA。样本量范围为：n=5116（8 岁）至 n=3085（24 岁）。ALSPAC 母亲（n=4634）回顾性报告了 18 岁之前经历的 ACEs，并且在平均年龄 49 岁时评估了 GlycA。我们使用多变量线性回归来估计两个样本中 ACEs（总 ACE 评分和个体 ACEs）与随后的 GlycA 之间的关联，同时调整了关键混杂因素。
后代和母亲的平均 GlycA 水平相似，且随时间推移而变化。在后代中，在调整了母亲的出生年龄和产次、母亲的婚姻状况、家庭职业社会阶层、母亲的教育程度、母亲的吸烟情况、自身种族、性别和月龄后，没有证据表明 ACEs（总评分或个体 ACE）与 8 岁、18 岁或 24 岁时的 GlycA 相关。在母亲中，总 ACE 评分与 49 岁时的 GlycA 呈正相关（调整后的平均差异 0.007mmol/L；95%CI：0.003，0.01）。在调整了混杂因素和其他 ACEs 后，情感忽视是唯一与更高 GlycA 相关的个体 ACE。
结果表明，ACEs 与 GlycA 之间的关联可能出现在中年。未来的研究应该探讨成年期炎症在多大程度上可以解释 ACEs 与晚年不良健康结果之间已被充分证实的关联。
