Blunted endocrine and cardiovascular reactivity in young healthy women reporting a history of childhood adversity

Voellmin, Annette; Winzeler, Katja; Hug, Evelin; Wilhelm, Frank H.; Schaefer, Valérie; Gaab, Jens; Marca, Roberto La; Pruessner, Jens C.; Bader, Klaus

doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2014.09.008

Cited by 128 publications

(99 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…At this point, a normalization of CRH results in diminished adrenocorticotropin hormone (ACTH) secretion, and ultimately produces cortisol levels below the normal baseline. Importantly, this model corresponds with studies that have demonstrated age at traumatization to be an important factor for cortisol reactivity (e.g., Bosch et al, 2012;Voellmin et al, 2015).…”

Section: The Role Of Hpa Axis Functioningsupporting

confidence: 81%

Differences in HPA axis reactivity to intimacy in women with and without histories of sexual trauma

Martinson

Craner

Sigmon

2016

Psychoneuroendocrinology

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Section: The Role Of Hpa Axis Functioningsupporting

confidence: 81%

Differences in HPA axis reactivity to intimacy in women with and without histories of sexual trauma

Martinson

Craner

Sigmon

2016

Psychoneuroendocrinology

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“…For example, the anti-inflammatory and glucose metabolism functions of cortisol may leave the low-cortisol individual at heightened risk for immune and insulin-related health problems (Miller, Cohen, & Ritchey, 2002; Raison & Miller, 2003). Importantly, this calibration of the body’s stress response system is in response to the individual’s social environment and stressor exposure (Voellmin et al, 2015), calling attention to the importance of social determinants of health particularly within the African American community.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Reactivity to Acute Stress: an Investigation into the Roles of Perceived Stress and Family Resources

et al. 2017

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Objective Rurally situated African Americans suffer from chronic exposure to stress that may have a deleterious effect on health outcomes. Unfortunately, research on potential mechanisms that underlie health disparities affecting the African American community has received limited focus in the scientific literature. This study investigated the relationship between perceived stress, family resources, and cortisol reactivity to acute stress. Method A rural sample of African American emerging adults (N = 60) completed a battery of assessments, the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), and provided four samples of salivary cortisol: prior to receiving TSST instructions, prior to conducting the speech task, immediately following the TSST, and 15–20 minutes following the TSST. Results As predicted, cortisol levels increased in response to a controlled laboratory inducement of acute stress. Moreover, diminished levels of family resources were associated with blunted cortisol reactivity to acute stress. Of note, higher levels of perceived stress over the past month and being male were independently associated with lower levels of cortisol at baseline. Conclusions Lack of family resources had a blunting relationship on HPA-Axis reactivity. These findings provide biomarker support for the relationship between family resources – an indicator associated with social determinants of health – and stress physiology within a controlled laboratory experiment. Identifying mechanisms that work toward explanation of within-group differences in African American health disparities is both needed and informative for culturally-informed prevention and intervention efforts.

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“…Those who have experienced ACEs show an exaggerated inflammatory response to acute laboratory stress (Trier Social Stress Test; TSST) (Carpenter et al, 2010), larger IL-6 response to daily stressors (Gouin et al, 2012), and larger ex vivo cytokine responses to microbial challenge or lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation (Miller et al, 2011) compared with those without a history of childhood adversity. Individuals with exposure to childhood adversity also evidence dysregulated HPA axis function (Bunea et al, 2017), including blunted cortisol response to the TSST or Montreal Imaging Stress Task (MIST) (Carpenter et al, 2007; Lovallo, 2013; Suzuki et al, 2014; Voellmin et al, 2015), blunted cortisol awakening response (CAR) (Kumsta et al, 2017), greater heterogeneity in diurnal cortisol patterns (Gonzalez et al, 2009), low hair cortisol (Kalmakis et al, 2015), and blunted cortisol response to a separation stressor at six months postpartum (Morrison et al, 2017). During pregnancy specifically, high ACE women show lower baseline cortisol (Shea et al, 2007), greater hair cortisol levels (Schreier et al, 2015), increased cortisol response to daily stress (Bublitz and Stroud, 2012), elevated CAR in the context of poor current perceived family function (Bublitz et al, 2014), and greater hair cortisol associated with depressive or somatic symptoms (Bowers et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Childhood adversity impact on gut microbiota and inflammatory response to stress during pregnancy

Hantsoo

Jašarević

Criniti

et al. 2019

Brain, Behavior, and Immunity

120

105

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Background: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), such as abuse or chronic stress, program an exaggerated adult inflammatory response to stress. Emerging rodent research suggests that the gut microbiome may be a key mediator in the association between early life stress and dysregulated glucocorticoid-immune response. However, ACE impact on inflammatory response to stress, or on the gut microbiome, have not been studied in human pregnancy, when inflammation increases risk of poor outcomes. The aim of this study was to assess the relationships among ACE, the gut microbiome, and cytokine response to stress in pregnant women. Methods: Physically and psychiatrically healthy adult pregnant women completed the Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire (ACE-Q) and gave a single stool sample between 20 and 26 weeks gestation. Stool DNA was isolated and 16S sequencing was performed. Three 24-hour food recalls were administered to assess dietary nutrient intake. A subset of women completed the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) at 22–34 weeks gestation; plasma interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), and cortisol were measured at four timepoints pre and post stressor, and area under the curve (AUC) was calculated. Results: Forty-eight women completed the ACE-Q and provided stool; 19 women completed the TSST. Women reporting 2 or more ACEs (high ACE) had greater differential abundance of gut Prevotella than low ACE participants (q=5.7×10^−13). Abundance of several gut taxa were significantly associated with cortisol, IL-6, TNF-α and CRP AUCs regardless of ACE status. IL-6 response to stress was buffered among high ACE women with high intake of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) (p=0.03) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) (p=0.05). Discussion: Our findings suggest that multiple childhood adversities are associated with changes in gut microbiota composition during pregnancy, and such changes may contribute to altered inflammatory and glucocorticoid response to stress. While preliminary, this is the first study to demonstrate an association between gut microbiota and acute glucocorticoid-immune response to stress in a clinical sample. Finally, exploratory analyses suggested that high ACE women with high dietary intake of ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) had a dampened inflammatory response to acute stress, suggesting potentially protective effects of ω-3s in this high-risk population. Given the adverse effects of inflammation on pregnancy and the developing fetus, mechanisms by which childhood adversity influence the gut-brain axis and potential protective factors such as diet should be further explored.

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Blunted endocrine and cardiovascular reactivity in young healthy women reporting a history of childhood adversity

Cited by 128 publications

References 61 publications

Differences in HPA axis reactivity to intimacy in women with and without histories of sexual trauma

Differences in HPA axis reactivity to intimacy in women with and without histories of sexual trauma

Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Reactivity to Acute Stress: an Investigation into the Roles of Perceived Stress and Family Resources

Childhood adversity impact on gut microbiota and inflammatory response to stress during pregnancy

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