Cord Blood Islet Autoantibodies Are Related to Stress in the Mother during Pregnancy
A 2-month psychological questionnaire concerning pregnancy was answered by 20,920 nondiabetic mothers of singletons. Retrospective analysis showed increased levels of islet autoantibodies (IA) in 290 (1.4%) newborns. High IA levels in the child's cord blood correlated strongly with IA levels in the mother (GADA r= 0.91, P < 0.0001; IA-2A r= 0.75, P= 0.0001). High IA levels were found in newborns whose mothers during pregnancy had been more worried than usual (P= 0.04), had worried that the child would be sick (P= 0.01) or not survive (P= 0.002), or had experienced serious life events, like serious accident in the family (P < 0.0001) or experienced violence (P= 0.02). Associations with increased worries by the mother remained in newborns with high type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM)-human leukocyte antigen (HLA) risk, but not in non-HLA risk children. The prospective follow-up of these children will determine the importance of this early IA for postnatal islet autoimmunity, type 1 diabetes, or both
autoantibodies stress type 1 diabetes