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Childhood eczema linked to mother’s stress during pregnancy

The causes of early-life eczema have been unclear, but evidence indicates that changes to fetal immune cells and sensory neurons during pregnancy play a key part.
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  1. Abhay P. S. Rathore

    1. Abhay P. S. Rathore is in the Department of Pathology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27705, USA, and in the Programme in Emerging Infectious Diseases, Duke–National University of Singapore Medical School, Singapore.

  2. Soman N. Abraham

    1. Soman N. Abraham is in the Department of Pathology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27705, USA, and in the Programme in Emerging Infectious Diseases, Duke–National University of Singapore Medical School, Singapore.

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Eczema, a skin condition characterized by dry, itchy and inflamed skin, is prevalent during childhood, with many cases beginning during the first year of life1. Although eczema is associated with genetic, environmental and immune factors2, the precise origins of early-life eczema are poorly understood. Writing in Nature, Serhan et al.3 provide experimental evidence that the development of early-life eczema begins in the womb. Using mouse models, they show that the offspring of stressed pregnant mothers develop eczema-like skin lesions in response to mechanical stimuli that are normally harmless, such as gentle scratching.

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Nature 646, 39-40 (2025)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-02427-8

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Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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