Prenatal stress has been linked to preterm birth via inflammatory dysregulation. We conducted a cross-sectional study on female participants who delivered live, singleton infants at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Magee Women’s Hospital. Participants (n = 200) were stratified by cumulative risk scores using a combination of individual factors (maternal education, diabetes, hypertension, smoking, relationship status, obesity, depression) and neighborhood deprivation scores. We hypothesized that inflammatory cytokines levels differ by risk group and race. Multiplex analyses of IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-13 and TNF-alpha were run. We found that Black birthing people had more risk factors for chronic stress and had lower levels of IL-6 compared to White birthing people. When stratified by risk group and race, low-risk Black birthing people had lower levels of IL-6 compared to low-risk White birthing people, and high-risk Black birthing people had lower levels of IL-8 compared to high-risk White birthing people. Higher area deprivation scores were associated with lower IL-6 levels. Our results suggest that the relationship between chronic stress and inflammatory cytokines is modified by race. We theorize that Black birthing people encounter repetitive stress due to racism and social disadvantage which may result in stress pathway desensitization and a blunted cytokine response to future stressors.

中文翻译：

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妊娠应激的生化效应中的种族差异

产前压力通过炎症失调与早产有关。我们对在匹兹堡大学医学中心马吉妇女医院分娩活泼单胎婴儿的女性参与者进行了横断面研究。参加人数（= 200）根据综合风险评分进行分层，其中使用了个体因素（孕产妇教育，糖尿病，高血压，吸烟，关系状况，肥胖，抑郁）和邻里剥夺评分。我们假设炎性细胞因子水平因危险人群和种族而异。对IL-6，IL-8，IL-10，IL-13和TNF-alpha进行了多重分析。我们发现，与白人相比，黑人出生的人有更多的慢性应激危险因素，IL-6水平较低。按风险组和种族进行分层时，与低风险的白人相比，低风险的黑人出生者的IL-6水平较低，与高风险的白人相比，高风险的黑人出生者的IL-8水平较低出生的人。较高的区域剥夺分数与较低的IL-6水平相关。我们的结果表明，慢性应激与炎性细胞因子之间的关系因种族而改变。我们的理论认为，黑人出生的人由于种族主义和社会不利因素而遭受重复性压力，这可能导致压力途径脱敏和对未来压力源的钝化细胞因子反应。