Maternal Stress During Pregnancy Is Associated with Decreased Cortisol and Cortisone Levels in Neonatal Hair

Abstract

Background: Hair glucocorticoids (GCs) offer a retrospective view on chronic GC exposure. We assessed whether maternal pre- and postnatal stress was associated with neonatal and maternal hair GCs postpartum (pp). Methods: On the first day pp 172 mother-infant pairs donated hair, of whom 67 had consulted a centre of expertise for psychiatric disorders during pregnancy. Maternal stress was scored on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale during the first/second (n = 46), third trimester (n = 57), and pp (n = 172). Hair cortisol and cortisone levels were determined by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, and associations with maternal hospital anxiety subscale (HAS) and hospital depression subscale (HDS) scores, and antidepressant use were analyzed with linear regression. Results: Neonatal hair GCs were negatively associated with elevated HAS-scores during the first/second trimester, log 10 (β [95% CI]) cortisol –0.19 (–0.39 to 0.02) p = 0.07, cortisone –0.10 (–0.25 to 0.05) p = 0.17; third trimester, cortisol –0.17 (–0.33 to 0.00) p = 0.05, cortisone –0.17 (–0.28 to –0.05) p = 0.01; and pp, cortisol –0.14 (–0.25 to –0.02) p = 0.02, cortisone –0.07 (–0.16 to 0.02) p = 0.10. A similar pattern was observed for elevated HDS-scores. Maternal hair GCs were positively associated with elevated HAS-scores pp (cortisol 0.17 [0.01 to 0.32] p = 0.04, cortisone 0.18 [0.06 to 0.31] p = 0.01), but not prenatally or with elevated HDS-scores. Antidepressant use was associated with elevated maternal hair GCs (p ≤ 0.05), but not with neonatal hair GCs. Conclusion: Exposure to excessive pre- and perinatal maternal stress was associated with a decrease in neonatal hair GCs, while elevated stress-scores around birth were associated with increased maternal hair GCs and elevated stress-scores earlier in gestation were not associated with maternal hair GCs pp. Further studies are needed to test associations with infant neurodevelopment.

An exploratory study of perinatal hair cortisol concentrations in mother–infant dyads with severe psychiatric disorders versus healthy controls

“…17 Studies evaluating the effects of stress and psychopathology on maternal and foetal HCC during pregnancy and beyond are rapidly emerging, but results are inconclusive. [32][33][34][35][36][37][38] This might be partly explained by differences in study sample (i.e. healthy versus depressed mothers) and different definitions of 'stress' (i.e.…”

“…Inconsistent results have emerged on the association between maternal prenatal cortisol levels and self-reports of prenatal psychological distress, elevated symptoms of prenatal depression, anxiety and antidepressant use. Evidence in different studies does show that excess maternal cortisol during pregnancy is associated with decreased infant cortisol levels, as measured in infant hair, shortly after birth 33 , 39 and at 12 months’ postpartum. 34 In 2-year-old children, Bryson et al 40 found a significant association between maternal and infant HCC that was not mediated by measures of early childhood adversity.…”

“… 42 However, in stressful situations, more cortisol can cross the placental barrier. 43 , 44 Thus, it has been proposed that in stressed mothers, the excess of maternal cortisol levels leads to downregulation of cortisol production in the foetal adrenal, 33 altering the set point of HPA axis functioning in the foetus. Because psychiatric disorders are associated with altered HPA axis activity, and this is associated with suboptimal HPA axis functioning of the infant, more insight into this process is needed in clinical and healthy dyads, to understand contributing factors and ultimately prevent adverse outcomes for offspring.…”

Consequences of maternal psychological stress during pregnancy for the risk of asthma in the offspring

“…Contrastingly, van der Voorn et al (2018) 49 found a significant association between prenatal maternal anxiety and decreased glucocorticoid levels in neonatal hair. Hair samples were, however, taken just one day postpartum, at which point they would be representative of prenatal, and not postnatal, HPA activity.…”

Assessment of prenatal stress‐related cortisol exposure: focus on cortisol accumulation in hair and nails

“…Three recent studies addressed this issue in human neonates. First, Van der Voorn et al (2018) measured hair CORT and cortisone in hair samples collected from a sample of Dutch mother‐infant dyads on the first day postpartum. The full length of infant hair was analyzed, as was the first centimeter proximal to scalp (representing roughly the previous month of hormone accumulation) in the mothers.…”