Pregnancy causes numerous changes in the woman’s body and the psychological and emotional state of the pregnant woman seems to also have an influence on a physiological level, since new research has found that the immune system of pregnant women who suffer from anxiety is biologically different from that of those who do not have this problem.
The study has been carried out by researchers from Weill Cornell Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Columbia University Irving Medical Center, in the United States, and has shown that cytotoxic T cells, which are immune cells that attack infected cells of the organism are found at higher levels in pregnant women with anxiety, and differences in the activity of immunological markers present in the blood were also observed in them. The findings were published in September in Brain, Behavior and Immunity.
The immune system changes during pregnancy to prevent the mother’s body from rejecting the developing fetus, but it has to be strong enough to fight pathogens, which is a delicate balance, explained Lauren M. Osborne, MD. , vice chair for clinical research in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Weill Cornell Medicine, who conducted the study while on the faculty at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “Anxious women seem to have immune systems that behave differently than healthy women during pregnancy and after delivery,” she added.
The anxiety of the pregnant woman alters the immune response
It was already known that experiencing stress or anxiety during pregnancy is harmful and can increase the risk of preterm birth and low birth weight, and the new study included 107 pregnant women (56 with anxiety and 51 without anxiety) who were evaluated during the second and third trimester of pregnancy and six weeks after delivery. Dr. Osborne and her team analyzed blood samples for immune activity and performed psychological assessments to diagnose clinical anxiety.
“Knowing that the immune system is involved is a first step to understand the biological factors related to anxiety in pregnancy and to develop new treatments”
They thus verified that, in women with anxiety, the levels of cytotoxic T cells rose during pregnancy and decreased in the weeks after delivery, while in women without anxiety the activity of these cells decreased during pregnancy and continued to decrease. after delivery. They also found that the activity of largely proinflammatory cytokines—or substances secreted by cells and part of the immune response—was suppressed during pregnancy in women with anxiety and then increased after delivery, while in women without anxiety. anxiety the opposite occurred.
“The conclusion is that this is the first clear evidence that immune activity differs for pregnant women depending on their state of anxiety. Knowing that the immune system is involved is a first step in understanding the biological factors associated with anxiety in pregnancy and a first step in developing new treatments,” said Dr. Osborne. “We know that anxiety must be treated to ensure healthy outcomes for both mother and child.”
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