Fairweather Sophie J, Hammerton Gemma, Paternoster Lavinia, Gilbody Simon, Jones Hannah J, Khandaker Golam M
Medical Research Council Integrative Epidemiology Unit at the University of Bristol, Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, Bristol, UK; NIHR Bristol Biomedical Research Centre, University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust, Bristol, UK; Centre for Academic Mental Health, Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
Medical Research Council Integrative Epidemiology Unit at the University of Bristol, Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, Bristol, UK; Centre for Academic Mental Health, Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
Brain Behav Immun. 2025 Feb;124:226-236. doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2024.11.029. Epub 2024 Dec 9.
Allergic disease and common mental disorders frequently co-occur. However, little is known about the longitudinal impact of childhood allergy on the subsequent risk of developing anxiety or depression, and the possible biological mechanisms for this.
We performed longitudinal analyses of data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) birth cohort. The baseline sample comprised n = 5256 children with allergy data available at age 7yrs. We used multivariable regression to test associations between childhood allergy at age 7yrs and: a) four inflammatory markers at age 9yrs; b) depression and anxiety measures between ages 10-24yrs. Allergy measures included biological markers (total serum immunoglobulin E (tIgE), number of positive skin prick tests (SPTs)), and presence of eczema, asthma and/or food allergy (mother reported). Inflammatory markers were interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-reactive protein (CRP), IL-4 and IL-13. We used structural equation modelling to test whether inflammatory markers mediated the association between tIgE and depression/anxiety.
tIgE and having ≥ 1 positive SPT at age 7 were associated with IL-6 levels at age 9 (adjusted β = 0.09; 95 % CI 0.06-0.13; p < 0.001 and adjusted β = 0.06; 95 % CI 0.03-0.09; p < 0.001 respectively), but not with CRP, IL-4 or IL13 levels. We found no strong evidence of an association between childhood allergy and subsequent depression/anxiety during adolescence and early adulthood. This finding was consistent across biological and mother-reported allergy measures.
Biological markers of childhood allergy are associated with IL-6, a key inflammatory cytokine. However, childhood allergy may not have a large long-term effect on subsequent depression/anxiety.
过敏性疾病与常见精神障碍经常同时出现。然而，关于儿童期过敏对随后发生焦虑或抑郁风险的纵向影响及其可能的生物学机制，人们了解甚少。
我们对阿冯父母与儿童纵向研究（ALSPAC）出生队列的数据进行了纵向分析。基线样本包括n = 5256名7岁时有过敏数据的儿童。我们使用多变量回归来检验7岁时儿童期过敏与以下因素之间的关联：a）9岁时的四种炎症标志物；b）10 - 24岁之间的抑郁和焦虑测量指标。过敏测量指标包括生物学标志物（总血清免疫球蛋白E（tIgE）、皮肤点刺试验（SPT）阳性数量），以及湿疹、哮喘和/或食物过敏的存在情况（母亲报告）。炎症标志物为白细胞介素-6（IL-6）、C反应蛋白（CRP）、IL-4和IL-13。我们使用结构方程模型来检验炎症标志物是否介导了tIgE与抑郁/焦虑之间的关联。
7岁时tIgE和≥1次SPT阳性与9岁时的IL-6水平相关（调整后β = 0.09；95%置信区间0.06 - 0.13；p < 0.001以及调整后β = 0.06；95%置信区间0.03 - 0.09；p < 0.001），但与CRP、IL-4或IL-13水平无关。我们没有发现有力证据表明儿童期过敏与青少年期和成年早期随后的抑郁/焦虑之间存在关联。这一发现对于生物学和母亲报告的过敏测量指标而言是一致的。
儿童期过敏的生物学标志物与关键炎症细胞因子IL-6相关。然而，儿童期过敏可能对随后的抑郁/焦虑没有很大的长期影响。
