Glucocorticoids and fetal programming part 2: mechanisms

Moisiadis, Vasilis G.; Matthews, Stephen G.

doi:10.1038/nrendo.2014.74

Cited by 353 publications

(347 citation statements)

References 83 publications

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“…It is important to note that programming mechanisms remain out of reach in humans, notably with regard to the tissue-specific nature of epigenetic modifications, because the tissues of interest, such as the hippocampus, hypothalamus, or pituitary, escape investigation. Nevertheless epigenetic imprints probably represent a critical component of the programming process and could be partly responsible for the long-range effects of antenatal glucocorticoid exposure on neurologic, cardiovascular, and metabolic function through their persistent effects on the HPA axis (56). Epigenetic programming of neuroendocrine and behavioral phenotypes has some sex specificity (26).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prenatal loss of father during World War One is predictive of a reduced lifespan in adulthood

Todd

Valleron

Bougnères

2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Although early-life stress is known to alter health, its long-term consequences on mortality remain largely unknown. Thanks to unique French legislation established in 1917 for war orphans and children of disabled soldiers, we were able to study the adult mortality of individuals born in 1914–1916 whose fathers were killed during World War 1. Vital information and socio-demographic characteristics were extracted manually from historical civil registers for 5,671 children born between 1 August 1914 and 31 December 1916 who were granted the status of “pupille de la Nation” (orphan of the Nation). We used a database comprising 1.4 million deceased soldiers to identify war orphans and collect information on their fathers and then paired each orphan with a nonorphan from the same birth register matched for date of birth, sex, and mother’s age at the infant’s birth. Mortality between ages 31 and 99 y was analyzed for 2,365 orphan/nonorphan pairs. The mean loss of adult lifespan of orphans who had lost their father before birth was 2.4 y (95% CI: 0.7, 3.9 y) and was the result of increased mortality before age 65 y. Adult lifespan was not reduced when the father’s death occurred after the infant’s birth. These results support the notion that intrauterine exposure to a major psychological maternal stress can affect human longevity.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prenatal loss of father during World War One is predictive of a reduced lifespan in adulthood

Todd

Valleron

Bougnères

2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…Taken together, the metabolism of maternal steroids and the transport of steroids/metabolites are likely to influence the exposure of developing embryos to maternal steroids and subsequently influence how maternal steroids impact development. Both of these processes have been suggested to be vital, protecting developing embryos from the potentially detrimental effects of increased glucocorticoid exposure during maternal stress [36]. Here, we test the hypothesis that embryos of non-amniotic vertebrates can modulate their exposure to maternal glucocorticoids and buffer themselves from the effects of maternal stress using threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) as a model.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stickleback embryos use ATP-binding cassette transporters as a buffer against exposure to maternally derived cortisol

2016

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Offspring from females that experience stressful conditions during reproduction often exhibit altered phenotypes and many of these effects are thought to arise owing to increased exposure to maternal glucocorticoids. While embryos of placental vertebrates are known to regulate exposure to maternal glucocorticoids via placental steroid metabolism, much less is known about how and whether egg-laying vertebrates can control their steroid environment during embryonic development. We tested the hypothesis that threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) embryos can regulate exposure to maternal steroids via active efflux of maternal steroids from the egg. Embryos rapidly (within 72 h) cleared intact steroids, but blocking ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters inhibited cortisol clearance. Remarkably, this efflux of cortisol was sufficient to prevent a transcriptional response of embryos to exogenous cortisol. Taken together, these findings suggest that, much like their placental counterparts, developing fish embryos can actively regulate their exposure to maternal cortisol. These findings highlight the fact that even in egg-laying vertebrates, the realized exposure to maternal steroids is mediated by both maternal and embryonic processes and this has important implications for understanding how maternal stress influences offspring development.

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“…In the longer-term, excess glucocorticoid exposure has been associated with the life-long function of the HPA axis in the offspring, and has been hypothesized to increase susceptibility to a variety of conditions including depression, hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and cognitive impairments [42,46]. The fetus is somewhat buffered from the effects of high maternal cortisol concentrations through the activity of the 11-β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (HSD)-2 enzyme in the placenta, which converts maternal cortisol to an inactive cortisone [47]. Yet this is not a perfect barrier and fetal and maternal cortisol concentrations are highly correlated suggesting that abnormally high maternal cortisol concentrations could affect the developing fetus [48].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Possible Changes in Maternal Plasma Cortisol, AdrenocorticotropicHormones, Pregnancy Associated Plasma Protein-A and Alpha-fetoproteinin HIV Pregnant Women at NAUTH Nnewi, Nigeria

Ukibe¹,

Onyenekwe²,

Anojulu³

et al. 2015

J Bioanal Biomed

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Background: There is limited information on if HIV infection induces stress in pregnancy. HIV can possibly contribute to the alterations in some fetal viability hormones thereby lead to adverse pregnancy outcome. The present study aimed to assess the possible changes in maternal cortisol, Adrenocorticotropic (ACTH), Pregnancy associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A) and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) hormone concentrations in HIV-infected pregnant women and their pregnancy outcomes. Methods:A cross sectional study of 80 (Eighty) volunteer pregnant women aged (18-49) years recruited during routine antenatal clinics in Nnamdi Azikiwe Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, Anambra State, Nigeria was conducted. The participants were divided into groups: 40 (forty) apparently healthy pregnant and 40 (forty) HIV-infected pregnant women. 5 ml of morning blood samples were collected from each subject in their 1 st and 2 nd trimesters for estimation of Cortisol, ACTH, AFP and PAPP-A using ELISA method. Results:The result showed that the mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures (mmHg) of HIV pregnant women were significantly higher than control (p<0.05 respectively). The mean value of cortisol (ng/ml) in HIV pregnant women was significantly higher when compared with control subjects (p<0.05). Cortisol showed inverse significant correlation with AFP in HIV-infected pregnant women. Maternal outcomes showed thatt HIV-infected pregnant women had significantly higher incidence of miscarriages and preeclampsia with higher incidence of perinatal outcomes such as low birth weight babies (LBW), preterm delivery, spontaneous abortion, still birth and low Apgar scores when compared with apparently normal pregnant women (P<0.05 respectively).Conclusion: the significantly higher cortisol level and BP in HIV pregnant women is indicative of oxidative stress due to perceived stress by HIV infection which might predispose the affected women to hypertension and preeclampsia. The highest adverse reactions observed in HIV pregnant women might be related to the damaged immune system by HIV infection however, the placental defect associated with increased placental permeability to AFP and the activity of the insulin-like growth factor (IGF) system is not related to the activity of stress thereby do not influence their birth outcomes.

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Glucocorticoids and fetal programming part 2: mechanisms

Cited by 353 publications

References 83 publications

Prenatal loss of father during World War One is predictive of a reduced lifespan in adulthood

Prenatal loss of father during World War One is predictive of a reduced lifespan in adulthood

Stickleback embryos use ATP-binding cassette transporters as a buffer against exposure to maternally derived cortisol

Possible Changes in Maternal Plasma Cortisol, AdrenocorticotropicHormones, Pregnancy Associated Plasma Protein-A and Alpha-fetoproteinin HIV Pregnant Women at NAUTH Nnewi, Nigeria

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