ArticlePsychological medicine2025
Maternal interleukin 6 in pregnancy is associated with
Article in Psychological medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Tic severity and executive functioning in children and adolescents: a moderated mediation model of premonitory urges and comorbidity.Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health · 2025Article
- Pathophysiological associations between maternal immune activation and neurodevelopmental disorders in offspring: a comprehensive review.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2025Review
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Abstract
backgroundElevated maternal interleukin 6 (IL-6) during pregnancy has been associated with adverse fetal brain development and neurodevelopmental disorders, which often involve executive functioning (EF) impairments. However, the association between maternal IL-6 levels during pregnancy and EF remains largely unexplored.
methodsThe COPSYCH study is based on the prospective COPSAC2010 birth cohort of 700 mother-child pairs, recruited during pregnancy. The children's executive functioning was assessed at age 10 using: (i) the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function, Second Edition (BRIEF-2) parental questionnaire, and (ii) a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery. Maternal blood levels of IL-6 and hs-CRP were measured at gestational week 24. Associations between IL-6 (main analysis) and hs-CRP (secondary analysis) and EF in children at age 10 were investigated with regression models with extensive confounder adjustment.
resultsSix hundred and four children (86% of the cohort) completed the 10-year follow-up. Higher maternal IL-6 levels were significantly associated with less efficient parental-rated executive functioning in the children: BRIEF-2 Global Executive Composite score (p = 0.003), Behavior Regulation Index (p = 0.005), Emotion Regulation Index (p=0.04), and Cognitive Regulation Index (p=0.007). Interaction analysis with sex was significant (p-value=0.01) and exploratory analyses showed that IL-6 associations to BRIEF-2 were solely driven by boys. Associations between IL-6 and neuropsychological tests, as well as associations between hs-CRP and EF outcomes, were non-significant.
conclusionIL-6 during pregnancy was associated with less efficient everyday EF in children at age 10. If replicated, preventive strategies targeting inflammation in pregnancy may ameliorate adverse cognitive outcomes in offspring.
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