Foetal exposure to maternal stressful events increases the risk of having asthma and atopic diseases in childhood

Background:The natural history of asthma and atopic diseases beginsin utero.Studies investigating the influence of foetal exposure to maternal stressful life eventsduring pregnancy (SLEP) on asthma and atopic diseases are lacking.Aim:To test whether the children of mothers who had experienced SLEP are at anincreased risk for asthma, atopic eczema and allergic rhinitis.Methods:The association between maternal SLEP (at least one among: divorce,mourning or loss of the job) and the occurrence of asthma and atopic diseases inchildhood was studied in a population (n = 3854) of children, aged 3–14 yrs, livingin Northern Italy. The parents filled in a standardized questionnaire about the chil-dren’s health and the events occurred to their mothers during pregnancy.Results:Three hundred and thirty-three (9%) of the mothers experienced SLEP.Their children had a statistically significantly higher lifetime prevalence of wheezing(31.6% vs. 23.1%), asthma (8.9% vs. 5.6%), allergic rhinitis (10.9% vs. 7.3%) andatopic eczema (29.7% vs. 21.1%) than those of mothers without SLEP. Afteradjusting for potential confounders, the foetal exposure to SLEP was positivelyassociated with wheezing (OR: 1.41, 95% CI: 1.03–1.94), asthma (OR: 1.71, 95%CI: 1.02–2.89), allergic rhinitis (OR: 1.75, 95% CI: 1.08–2.84) and atopic eczema(OR: 1.53, 95% CI: 1.11–2.10).Conclusion:The children of mothers who had experienced SLEP were at a moder-ately increased risk of having wheezing, asthma, eczema and allergic rhinitis duringtheir childhood. Maternal stress during pregnancy might enhance the expression ofasthma and atopic phenotypes in children.Pediatric Allergy and Immunology724Pediatric Allergy and Immunology23(2012) 724–729ª2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd