Compromised immune response in infants at risk for type 1 diabetes born by Caesarean Section

• Published in: Clinical immunology (Orlando, Fla.) Vol. 160; no. 2; pp. 282 - 285
• Main Authors: Puff, R, D'Orlando, O, Heninger, A.-K, Kühn, D, Krause, S, Winkler, C, Beyerlein, A, Bonifacio, E, Ziegler, A.-G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.10.2015
• Subjects: Adaptive Immunity - immunology; Allergy and Immunology; Antibodies, Bacterial - immunology; Caesarean Section; Case-Control Studies; CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes; Cesarean Section; Cytokine; Delivery, Obstetric; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 - epidemiology; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 - genetics; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 - immunology; Female; Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor - immunology; Humans; Immune responsiveness; Immunoglobulin G; Infant; Interferon-gamma - immunology; Interleukin-10 - immunology; Interleukin-12 - immunology; Interleukin-1beta - immunology; Interleukin-2 - immunology; Interleukin-6 - immunology; Interleukin-8 - immunology; Male; Prospective Studies; Tetanus response; Tetanus Toxin - immunology; Tetanus Toxoid - immunology; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha - immunology; Type 1 diabetes; Immune responsiveness; Tetanus response; Caesarean Section; Type 1 diabetes; Cytokine
• ISSN: 1521-6616; 1521-7035
• DOI: 10.1016/j.clim.2015.06.008

Abstract Children born by Caesarean Section have a higher risk for type 1 diabetes. We aimed to investigate whether Caesarean Section leads to alterations of the immune response in children with familial risk for type 1 diabetes. We examined measures of innate and adaptive immune responses in 94 prospectively followed children, including 40 born by Caesarean Section. Proinflammatory serum cytokine concentrations were determined at age 6 months. As a measure of vaccine response, IgG1, IgG2, and IgG4 tetanus antibody titers and CD4+ T cell proliferation against tetanus toxoid were quantified. Compared to infants born by vaginal delivery, infants born by Caesarean Section had lower concentrations of the cytokines IFN-ɣ (p = 0.014) and IL-8 (p = 0.005), and weaker CD4+ T cell responses to tetanus measured in the first (p = 0.007) and second year (p = 0.047) of life. Overall, our findings provide evidence that the mode of delivery influences the immune status and responsiveness during childhood.