Genetic variants may predispose children to recurrent respiratory
infections (RRIs) but studies on genotype-environment interaction are
rare. We hypothesized that the risk for RRIs is elevated in children
with innate immune gene variants, and that prenatal exposure to maternal
psychological distress further increases the risk. In a birth cohort,
children with RRIs (n = 96) were identified by the age of 24 months and
compared with the remaining cohort children (n = 894). The risk for RRIs
in children with preselected genetic variants and the interaction
between maternal distress during pregnancy and child genotype were
assessed with logistic regression. The IL6 minor allele G was associated
with elevated risk for RRIs (OR 1.55; 95% CI 1.14–2.12). Overall, there
was no interaction between maternal psychological distress and child
genotype. Exploratory analyses showed that, the association between the
variant type of IL6 and the risk for RRIs was dependent on prenatal
exposure to maternal psychological distress in males (OR 1.96; 95% CI
1.04–3.67). Our study didn’t find genotype-environment interaction
between prenatal maternal distress and child genotype. Exploratory
analyses suggest sex differences in gene-environment interaction related
to susceptibility to RRIs. © 2021, The Author(s).