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Biological embedding of stress through inflammation processes in childhood

Molecular Psychiatry volume 16, pages 244–246 (2011)Cite this article

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Children exposed to adverse psychosocial experiences show elevated disease risk in adulthood.1 It is therefore important to characterize the biological mechanisms through which children may acquire such lasting vulnerability to disease, namely, the mechanisms of biological embedding.2

Recent studies suggest that inflammation could be an important developmental mediator translating childhood psychosocial into biological risk. We previously showed that adult individuals exposed to childhood maltreatment had elevated levels of inflammation biomarkers.3 The elevation in inflammation levels was most evident in adults exposed to childhood maltreatment who also experienced depression at the time of inflammation assessment.4 These epidemiological findings from a population-representative birth cohort are supported by experimental evidence in animal models.5 In turn, elevated inflammation levels in adulthood have been linked to elevated risk of mental and physical illness.6

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Social, Genetic, and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, UK

    A Danese, A Caspi, B Williams, A Ambler, K Sugden, J Mika, H Werts, J Freeman, T E Moffitt & L Arseneault

  2. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, UK

    A Danese

  3. Departments of Psychology and Neuroscience, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

    A Caspi, B Williams, K Sugden & T E Moffitt

  4. Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, UK

    C M Pariante

Authors
  1. A Danese
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  2. A Caspi
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  3. B Williams
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  4. A Ambler
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  5. K Sugden
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  7. H Werts
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  8. J Freeman
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  9. C M Pariante
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  10. T E Moffitt
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  11. L Arseneault
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to A Danese.

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Supplementary Information accompanies the paper on the Molecular Psychiatry website (http://www.nature.com/mp)

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Danese, A., Caspi, A., Williams, B. et al. Biological embedding of stress through inflammation processes in childhood. Mol Psychiatry 16, 244–246 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2010.5

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