492 - Evaluation of Inflammatory Cytokine Expression in Pregnant Individuals with Opioid Use Disorder

Publication Number: 3474.492

Melissa K. Blake, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA, United States; Christina McConney, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, United States; Madison Bailey, Boston University School of Medicine, Dorchester, MA, United States; Elizabeth Taglauer, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, United States; Sorraya Jaiprasert, Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA, United States; Jennifer E. Snyder-Cappione, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, United States; Elisha Wachman, Boston Medical Center, Newton, MA, United States

Background: Elevated inflammatory cytokines during pregnancy has been linked to increased risk for adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes in children. Studies have found that individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) have increased levels of many of the same cytokines. Cytokine expression has not, to our knowledge, been studied in individuals with OUD during pregnancy.

Objective: To compare plasma cytokine levels from opioid-exposed and non-exposed individuals throughout pregnancy.

Design/Methods: Participants were enrolled in a prospective cohort study from a single institution. Plasma samples from 11 women with OUD were compared to 10 unexposed (control) women during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy, as well as at delivery. Cytokine levels were evaluated using a multiplex cytokine assay. Statistical analysis was performed using the Fisher's Exact test and Mann-Whitney U test.

Results: Demographic analysis found a significant difference in maternal race and psychiatric diagnoses with the OUD group primarily identifying as White with higher incidences of Anxiety Disorder and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (p < 0.05, Table 1). Opioid-exposed infants exhibited lower birth weight and head circumference percentiles at birth and required longer lengths of hospitalization compared to control (p < 0.05, Table 1). Cytokine analysis found that levels of interleukin (IL)-17A were significantly elevated in women with OUD vs control at time of delivery (p < 0.05, Table 2). Analysis also revealed that levels of Monocyte Chemoattractant Protein (MCP)-1, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12p70, IL-17A and IL-23 significantly increased throughout pregnancy in the OUD group, but not in the control group (p < 0.05, Figure 1).

Conclusion(s): Levels of multiple inflammatory cytokines significantly increased throughout pregnancy in women with OUD, with markedly higher IL-17A in maternal plasma at time of delivery in OUD participants as compared to control. Further longitudinal investigation is warranted to explore the potential linkage between inflammatory cytokine levels during pregnancy and neurodevelopmental outcomes in opioid-exposed infants.

Table 1. Demographics of opioid-exposed vs control maternal-infant dyads.


Table 2. Cytokine concentrations in opioid-exposed individuals vs control during second and third trimesters of pregnancy and at delivery.


Figure 1. Cytokine concentrations in opioid-exposed individuals throughout pregnancy.