ArticleBrain, behavior, and immunity2020
Evaluation of maternal inflammation as a marker of future offspring ADHD symptoms: A prospective investigation.
Article in Brain, behavior, and immunity, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 42 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
42 citing papers in PubMed, 61 citations in OpenAlex.
- Trial
- The relationship between maternal adiposity during pregnancy and toddler ADHD symptoms is mediated by gestational inflammation.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2026Article
- Prenatal Origins of Stress Regulation: Maternal Psychological Distress and Inflammation During Pregnancy Prospectively Predict Infant Behavioral Reactivity and Regulation.Developmental psychobiology · 2026Article
- Ultra-processed food consumption during pregnancy and emotional and behavioral problems in offspring.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2026Article
- Nutrient patterns in children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: a case-control study.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2026Article
- Gestational kynurenine metabolites mediate effects of pregnancy adiposity on child negative affect.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2026Article
- NFAT1Cellular & molecular biology letters · 2026Article
- Maternal infection - but not inflammation - is associated with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms during childhood: a population-based cohort study.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2026Article
- The Evolving ADHD Phenotype in the Externalizing Context.The American journal of psychiatry · 2026Review
- Coordination of inflammatory and adrenocortical stress response during pregnancy and variation by mental health.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2025Article
- Review
- High Mobility Group Box 1 Protein as a Biomarker in Adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.Alpha psychiatry · 2025Article
- Maternal interleukin 6 in pregnancy is associated withPsychological medicine · 2025Article
- Associations of the gut microbiome and inflammatory markers with mental health symptoms: a cross-sectional study on Danish adolescents.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Attention-related impairment and contributing neuroinflammatory signalling in the prefrontal cortex of perinatal nicotine-exposed mice.Acta neuropsychiatrica · 2025Article
- Neurodevelopmental disorders and gut-brain interactions: exploring the therapeutic potential of pycnogenol through microbial-metabolic-neural networks.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2025Review
- Maternal Immune Activation and Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Integrating Molecular, Cellular and Systems Mechanisms.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2025Review
- Large-scale proteomics in the first trimester of pregnancy predict psychopathology and temperament in preschool children: an exploratory study.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2024Article
- Adipokines measured during pregnancy and at birth are associated with infant negative affect.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2024Article
- Offspring behavioral outcomes following maternal allergic asthma in the IL-4-deficient mouse.Journal of neuroimmunology · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Early life predictors of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are critically needed; they could inform etiological theory and may help identify new prevention targets. The current study examined prospectively whether maternal cytokine levels during pregnancy predict offspring ADHD symptoms at age 4-6 years. Secondarily, we evaluated maternal cytokine levels as a possible common pathway through which prenatal risks exert influence on child ADHD. Data came from a sample of women recruited during the 2nd trimester of pregnancy (N = 62) and followed postnatally until children were 4-6 years old. Maternal inflammation was assessed using 3rd trimester plasma concentrations of three indicators of nuclear factor kappa B signaling: interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 which were combined into a latent variable. Mothers and teachers reported on child ADHD symptoms, negative affect, and externalizing behaviors at 48-72 months of age. Maternal inflammation in the 3rd trimester predicted ADHD symptoms when children were 4-6 years old (β = 0.53, 95% CI = 0.154, 0.905, p = 0.006). Further, maternal inflammation mediated the effect of prenatal distress on child ADHD (β = 0.21, 95% CI = 0.007, 0.419, p = 0.04). The inflammation effect on ADHD was not explained by concurrent child negative affect, externalizing behavior, or familial ADHD status. This is the first human study to prospectively link maternal pregnancy cytokine levels and offspring ADHD symptoms, suggesting that cytokine levels are a possible marker of ADHD risk. Results also provide new evidence that maternal prenatal inflammation may be one common pathway by which prenatal risk factors influence offspring mental health outcomes.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.