Inflammation and early life stress: An updated review of childhood trauma and inflammatory markers in adulthood

Mollie Brown; Courtney Worrell; Carmine M. Pariante

doi:10.1016/j.pbb.2021.173291

Inflammation and early life stress: An updated review of childhood trauma and inflammatory markers in adulthood

Mollie Brown^*, Courtney Worrell, Carmine M. Pariante

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

41 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Inflammation, as a neurobiological consequence of childhood trauma, has frequently been reported across research, however, recent investigations suggest this relationship may be dependent on specificities such as type of trauma, type of inflammatory marker, and additional mediatory variables - such as body mass index (BMI), age, and sex. As an updated version of a previous review by Baumeister et al., the current review comprised a search of PubMed, which identified 37 articles that collectively assessed 4 inflammatory markers (CRP, IL-6, TNFα and IL-1β). A review of the studies revealed predominantly non-significant associations between childhood trauma and elevated levels of all inflammatory markers in adulthood. However, in line with previous research, discrepancies in significance arose when considering type of trauma, type of inflammatory marker, and additional variables. Compared to neglect, abuse showed greater significant associations with elevated inflammatory markers in adulthood, though this was dependent on the individual subtypes (emotional, physical or sexual). Mediation analyses reported BMI as a significant mediator, though, when controlled for, no significant differences were found. Sex differences were reported but investigations were sparse. Future research should investigate the mediatory role of sex differences in the inflammatory effects of childhood trauma. Many studies in the review were restricted by use of the same trauma measure – the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. To assess greater variety of trauma types, future studies should utilize other standardized measures to explore these avenues.

Original language	English
Article number	173291
Journal	Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior
Volume	211
Early online date	22 Oct 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pbb.2021.173291
Publication status	Published - Dec 2021

Keywords

Childhood trauma
Cytokines
Early life stress
Inflammation
Inflammatory markers
Psychiatric disorders

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10.1016/j.pbb.2021.173291

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title = "Inflammation and early life stress: An updated review of childhood trauma and inflammatory markers in adulthood",

abstract = "Inflammation, as a neurobiological consequence of childhood trauma, has frequently been reported across research, however, recent investigations suggest this relationship may be dependent on specificities such as type of trauma, type of inflammatory marker, and additional mediatory variables - such as body mass index (BMI), age, and sex. As an updated version of a previous review by Baumeister et al., the current review comprised a search of PubMed, which identified 37 articles that collectively assessed 4 inflammatory markers (CRP, IL-6, TNFα and IL-1β). A review of the studies revealed predominantly non-significant associations between childhood trauma and elevated levels of all inflammatory markers in adulthood. However, in line with previous research, discrepancies in significance arose when considering type of trauma, type of inflammatory marker, and additional variables. Compared to neglect, abuse showed greater significant associations with elevated inflammatory markers in adulthood, though this was dependent on the individual subtypes (emotional, physical or sexual). Mediation analyses reported BMI as a significant mediator, though, when controlled for, no significant differences were found. Sex differences were reported but investigations were sparse. Future research should investigate the mediatory role of sex differences in the inflammatory effects of childhood trauma. Many studies in the review were restricted by use of the same trauma measure – the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. To assess greater variety of trauma types, future studies should utilize other standardized measures to explore these avenues.",

keywords = "Childhood trauma, Cytokines, Early life stress, Inflammation, Inflammatory markers, Psychiatric disorders",

author = "Mollie Brown and Courtney Worrell and Pariante, {Carmine M.}",

note = "Funding Information: Dr. Pariante and Dr. Worrell are supported by the Wellcome Trust strategy award to the Neuroimmunology of Mood Disorders and Alzheimer's Disease (NIMA) Consortium (104025), which is also funded by Janssen , GlaxoSmithKline , Lundbeck and Pfizer ; and by the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking under grant agreement No 853966-2 , as part of the EU-PEARL project. This Joint Undertaking receives support from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and EFPIA. Dr. Pariante is additionally funded by: the NARSAD grant RE14032 ; by the U.K. Medical Research Council ( MR/N015746/1 ); by the National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley National Health Service Foundation Trust and King's College London ; and by a NIHR Senior Investigator Award . Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 Elsevier Inc.",

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doi = "10.1016/j.pbb.2021.173291",

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AU - Brown, Mollie

AU - Worrell, Courtney

AU - Pariante, Carmine M.

N1 - Funding Information: Dr. Pariante and Dr. Worrell are supported by the Wellcome Trust strategy award to the Neuroimmunology of Mood Disorders and Alzheimer's Disease (NIMA) Consortium (104025), which is also funded by Janssen , GlaxoSmithKline , Lundbeck and Pfizer ; and by the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking under grant agreement No 853966-2 , as part of the EU-PEARL project. This Joint Undertaking receives support from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and EFPIA. Dr. Pariante is additionally funded by: the NARSAD grant RE14032 ; by the U.K. Medical Research Council ( MR/N015746/1 ); by the National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley National Health Service Foundation Trust and King's College London ; and by a NIHR Senior Investigator Award . Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Elsevier Inc.

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N2 - Inflammation, as a neurobiological consequence of childhood trauma, has frequently been reported across research, however, recent investigations suggest this relationship may be dependent on specificities such as type of trauma, type of inflammatory marker, and additional mediatory variables - such as body mass index (BMI), age, and sex. As an updated version of a previous review by Baumeister et al., the current review comprised a search of PubMed, which identified 37 articles that collectively assessed 4 inflammatory markers (CRP, IL-6, TNFα and IL-1β). A review of the studies revealed predominantly non-significant associations between childhood trauma and elevated levels of all inflammatory markers in adulthood. However, in line with previous research, discrepancies in significance arose when considering type of trauma, type of inflammatory marker, and additional variables. Compared to neglect, abuse showed greater significant associations with elevated inflammatory markers in adulthood, though this was dependent on the individual subtypes (emotional, physical or sexual). Mediation analyses reported BMI as a significant mediator, though, when controlled for, no significant differences were found. Sex differences were reported but investigations were sparse. Future research should investigate the mediatory role of sex differences in the inflammatory effects of childhood trauma. Many studies in the review were restricted by use of the same trauma measure – the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. To assess greater variety of trauma types, future studies should utilize other standardized measures to explore these avenues.

AB - Inflammation, as a neurobiological consequence of childhood trauma, has frequently been reported across research, however, recent investigations suggest this relationship may be dependent on specificities such as type of trauma, type of inflammatory marker, and additional mediatory variables - such as body mass index (BMI), age, and sex. As an updated version of a previous review by Baumeister et al., the current review comprised a search of PubMed, which identified 37 articles that collectively assessed 4 inflammatory markers (CRP, IL-6, TNFα and IL-1β). A review of the studies revealed predominantly non-significant associations between childhood trauma and elevated levels of all inflammatory markers in adulthood. However, in line with previous research, discrepancies in significance arose when considering type of trauma, type of inflammatory marker, and additional variables. Compared to neglect, abuse showed greater significant associations with elevated inflammatory markers in adulthood, though this was dependent on the individual subtypes (emotional, physical or sexual). Mediation analyses reported BMI as a significant mediator, though, when controlled for, no significant differences were found. Sex differences were reported but investigations were sparse. Future research should investigate the mediatory role of sex differences in the inflammatory effects of childhood trauma. Many studies in the review were restricted by use of the same trauma measure – the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. To assess greater variety of trauma types, future studies should utilize other standardized measures to explore these avenues.

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KW - Cytokines

KW - Early life stress

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KW - Inflammatory markers

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ER -

Inflammation and early life stress: An updated review of childhood trauma and inflammatory markers in adulthood

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