Markers of maternal inflammation may determine infant birth outcomes. Maternal serum
samples were collected at 28 weeks gestation ( n =1418) in the Seychelles Child Development
Study Nutrition Cohort 2 and analyzed for immune markers by MSD multiplex assay, including
cytokines from the Th1 (IFN-γ, IL-1β, IL-2 and TNF-α) and Th2 (IL-4, IL-5, IL-10)
subsets, with IL-6, MCP-1, TARC, sFlt-1 and VEGF-D. Associations of log-transformed
immune markers with birthweight, length, head circumference and gestational age were
assessed by multiple linear regression models, which were adjusted for maternal age,
BMI, parity, child sex, gestational age and socioeconomic status. Neither total Th1,
Th2 nor Th1:Th2 were significantly associated with any birth outcome. However, the
angiogenesis marker VEGF-D was predictive of a lower birthweight, (β= −0.058, P =0.017)
and birth length (β=−0.088, P =0.001) after adjusting for covariates. Higher concentrations
of CRP were predictive of a lower birthweight (β=−0.057, P =0.023) and IL-2 (β=0.073,
P =0.009) and the chemokine MCP-1 (β=0.067, P =0.016) were predictive of a longer
gestational age. In our cohort of healthy pregnant women, we found no evidence for
associations between the Th1 or Th2 inflammatory markers with birth outcomes. However,
VEGF-D and CRP appear to predict lower birthweight and IL-2 and MCP-1 a longer gestation.
Greater understanding is required of the variation in these immune markers at different
gestational stages, as well as the factors which may regulate their balance in healthy
pregnancy. n=233