Abstract # 3089 Early life stress and vulnerability to viral infection in mood disorders

Abstract

Early life stress (ELS) has negative sequelae, increasing the risk for mood disorders, medical illness, and inflammation in adulthood. However, its impact on vulnerability to infectious disease is largely unknown. Current stress and depression increase vulnerability to infection, begging the question of whether this association is driven by ELS. We addressed this question in a sample of volunteers with a DSM-IV diagnosis of a mood disorder (n = 262), and a replication sample of volunteers who met DSM-V criteria for a mood or anxiety disorder (n = 431). IgG antibodies to cytomegalovirus (CMV) and herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) were quantified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. ELS was measured with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). Logistic regression models controlling for age and sex revealed that for every point increase on the CTQ (total CTQ score with a possible range of 25–125) the odds of testing seropositive for CMV was increased by a factor of 1.01 (p = 0.062) in the discovery sample and a factor of 1.02 (p