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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2019 Jan;22(1):36-43.
doi: 10.1080/10253890.2018.1484445. Epub 2018 Jun 22.

Infant cortisol stress-response is associated with thymic function and vaccine response

M Nazmul Huda  1   2   3 , Shaikh M Ahmad  3 , Md Jahangir Alam  3 , Afsana Khanam  3 , Md Nure Alam Afsar  3 , Yukiko Wagatsuma  4 , Rubhana Raqib  3 , Charles B Stephensen  1   2 , Kevin D Laugero  1   2
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Infant cortisol stress-response is associated with thymic function and vaccine response

M Nazmul Huda et al. Stress. 2019 Jan.

Abstract

Stress can impair T cell-mediated immunity. To determine if infants with high stress responses had deficits in T-cell mediated immunity, we examined the association of pain-induced cortisol responsiveness with thymic function and vaccine responses in infants. This study was performed among 306 (male = 153 and female = 153) participants of a randomized, controlled trial examining the effect of neonatal vitamin A supplementation on immune function in Bangladesh (NCT01583972). Salivary cortisol was measured before and 20 min after a needle stick (vaccination) at 6 weeks of age. The thymic index (TI) was determined by ultrasonography at 1, 6, 10 and 15 weeks. T-cell receptor excision circle and blood T-cell concentrations were measured at 6 and 15 weeks. Responses to Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), tetanus toxoid, hepatitis B virus and oral poliovirus vaccination were assayed at 6 and 15 weeks. Cortisol responsiveness was negatively associated with TI at all ages (p < .01) in boys only, was negatively associated with naïve helper T-cell concentrations in both sexes at both 6 (p = .0035) and 15 weeks (p = .0083), and was negatively associated with the delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) skin test response to BCG vaccination at 15 weeks (p = .034) in both sexes. Infants with a higher cortisol response to pain have differences in the T-cell compartment and a lower DTH response to vaccination. Sex differences in the immune system were seen as early as 6 weeks of age in these healthy infants.

Keywords: Stress; T-cell; cortisol; thymus; vaccine; vitamin A.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1:
Figure 1:
Post-vaccine salivary cortisol was significantly higher than pre-vaccine cortisol (n = 229). Comparison was calculated by independent two group t-test. Box = 25th 75th percentile, whiskers = 10th - 90th percentile, + = mean, horizontal bar = median, *** = p<0.001.
Figure 2:
Figure 2:
Predicted probability of observing positive PPD skin test at 15 w by cortisol responsiveness quartiles in normally delivered exclusively breastfeed infants having median baseline cortisol, cortisol collection time, HAZ and WHZ scores. Bar represents 95% CI. Mean and CI were predicted from the regression model described in the Table 4.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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