From Science Daily, March 5, 2020
In a new study, they tracked a lifetime of physiological changes experienced by mice given a liquid solution containing the stress hormone glucocorticoid while in the womb or soon after birth. Glucocorticoids are naturally occurring hormones that reduce inflammation and are instrumental in helping infants and adults alike adapt quickly to environmental dangers, such as famine or violence. Physicians use them to treat asthma and autoimmune diseases caused by overactive immune systems, for example.
But, the researchers found, early-life exposure to the stress hormone can permanently alter many immune system responses, decreasing the body's ability to ward off bacterial infections and fight tumors.
"Mice for rest of their lives are rewired and reprogrammed in ways fundamentally different from those not exposed to glucocorticoids," said Yale immunobiologist Ruslan Medzhitov, senior author of the study and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator.
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