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Birth weight and postnatal microbial exposures predict the distribution of peripheral blood leukocyte subsets in young adults in the Philippines

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 October 2017

T. W. McDade ,
M. J. Jones ,
G. Miller ,
J. Borja ,
M. S. Kobor  and
C. W. Kuzawa
T. W. McDade*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA Child and Brain Development Program, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, ON, Canada
M. J. Jones
Affiliation:
BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
G. Miller
Affiliation:
Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
J. Borja
Affiliation:
USC-Office of Population Studies Foundation Inc., University of San Carlos, Cebu City, the Philippines Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, University of San Carlos, Cebu City, the Philippines
M. S. Kobor
Affiliation:
Child and Brain Development Program, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, ON, Canada BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
C. W. Kuzawa
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
*
*Address for correspondence: T. W. McDade, Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA. (Email t-mcdade@northwestern.edu)
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Abstract

The immune system not only provides protection against infectious disease but also contributes to the etiology of neoplastic, atopic, and cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Prenatal and postnatal nutritional and microbial environments have lasting effects on multiple aspects of immunity, indicating that immune processes may play important roles in the developmental origins of disease. The objective of this study is to evaluate the association between birth weight and the distribution of leukocyte (white blood cell) subsets in peripheral blood in young adulthood. Postnatal microbial exposures were also considered as predictors of leukocyte distribution. Participants (n=486; mean age=20.9 years) were drawn from a prospective birth cohort study in the Philippines, and analyses focused on the following cell types: CD4 T lymphocytes, CD8 T lymphocytes, B lymphocytes, natural killer cells, monocytes, granulocytes. Higher birth weight was a strong predictor of higher proportion of CD4 T lymphocytes (B=0.12, s.e.=0.041, P=0.003), lower proportion of CD8 T lymphocytes (B=−0.874, s.e.=0.364, P=0.016), higher CD4:CD8 ratio (B=1.964, s.e.=0.658, P=0.003), and higher B lymphocytes (B=0.062, s.e.=0.031, P=0.047). Measures of microbial exposure in infancy were negatively associated with proportions of B lymphocytes and granulocytes, and lower CD4:CD8 ratio. Leukocytes are the key regulators and effectors of innate and specific immunity, but the origins of variation in the distribution of cell type across individuals are not known. Our findings point toward nutritional and microbial exposures in infancy as potentially important determinants of immune-phenotypes in adulthood, and they suggest that leukocyte distribution is a plausible mechanism through which developmental environments have lasting effects on disease risk in adulthood.

Keywords

cohort studydevelopmental programmingimmune systemprenatal environment
Type
Original Article
Information
Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease , Volume 9 , Issue 2 , April 2018 , pp. 198 - 207
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Copyright
© Cambridge University Press and the International Society for Developmental Origins of Health and Disease 2017 

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