Associations of Air Pollution with Peripheral Inflammation and Cardiac Autonomic Physiology in Children

Abstract

Climate change-related disasters have drawn increased attention to the impact of air pollution on health. 122 children ages 9-11 years old (M(SD) = 9.91(.56)) participated. Levels of particulate matter (PM2.5) near participants’ homes were obtained from the Environmental Protection Agency. Cytokines were assayed from 100 child serum samples: IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, and TNFα. Autonomic physiology was indexed by pre-ejection period (PEP), respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), cardiac autonomic regulation (CAR), and balance (CAB). IL-6 was positively related to daily PM2.5 (r = .26, p = .009). IL-8 was negatively associated with monthly PM2.5 (r = -.23, p = .02). PEP was positively related to daily (r = .29, p = .001) and monthly PM2.5 (r = .18, p = .044). CAR was negatively associated with daily PM2.5 (r = -.29, p = .001). IL-10, TNFα, RSA, and CAB were not associated with PM2.5. Air pollution may increase risk of inflammation in children.

Examining associations among caregiver stress, social support, and the infant gut microbiome

“…Another potential mechanism by which caregiver social support may influence the infant gut microbiome is via reductions in caregiver psychological and physiological stress. A few studies have found that higher social support for caregivers is associated with lower perceived caregiver stress and lower rates of caregiver depression and anxiety in the postnatal period (Jahnke et al, 2021;Nelson et al, 2020), which may influence patterns of parenting behaviors and parent-child interactions (Beebe et al, 2011;Feldman et al, 2009;Granat et al, 2017;Lemus et al, 2022) with important influences on the development of biological systems implicated in the gut microbiome, including infant stress-response systems (Feldman et al, 2009;Parenteau et al, 2020). Additionally, some studies have found that maternal social support during pregnancy serves as a buffer against the physiological impacts of psychological distress (Giesbrecht et al, 2013), suggesting that another potential mechanism by which caregiver social support influences the infant gut microbiome is by preventing caregiver stress from "getting under the skin."…”