Prenatal maternal stress is associated with lower cortisol and cortisone levels in the first morning urine of 45-month-old children

Send, Tabea; Bardtke, Svenja; Gilles, Maria; Wolf, Isabella; Sütterlin, M.W.; Wudy, Stefan A.; Wang, R.; Laucht, Manfred; Witt, Stephanie H.; Rietschel, Marcella; Streit, Fabian; Deuschle, Michael

doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2019.01.017

Cited by 17 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…However, there are conflicting results for the effect of maternal stress exposure on offspring cortisol in human studies because cortisol/glucocorticoid levels can be affected by sample type (hair, saliva or urine), sampling time (day or night) and the age of the offspring (at birth, childhood, adolescence or adulthood), etc. [145]. Thus, one should exercise caution in drawing too many conclusions from these studies.…”

Section: Stress-induced Epigenetic Changes In Energy Metabolismmentioning

confidence: 96%

Chronic stress, epigenetics, and adipose tissue metabolism in the obese state

2020

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In obesity, endocrine and metabolic perturbations, including those induced by chronic activation of the hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal axis, are associated with the accumulation of adipose tissue and inflammation. Such changes are attributable to a combination of genetic and epigenetic factors that are influenced by the environment and exacerbated by chronic activation of the hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal axis. Stress exposure at different life stages can alter adipose tissue metabolism directly through epigenetic modification or indirectly through the manipulation of hypothalamic appetite regulation, and thereby contribute to endocrine changes that further disrupt whole-body energy balance. This review synthesizes current knowledge, with an emphasis on human clinical trials, to describe metabolic changes in adipose tissue and associated endocrine, genetic and epigenetic changes in the obese state. In particular, we discuss epigenetic changes induced by stress exposure and their contribution to appetite and adipocyte dysfunction, which collectively promote the pathogenesis of obesity. Such knowledge is critical for providing future directions of metabolism research and targets for treating metabolic disorders.

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Section: Stress-induced Epigenetic Changes In Energy Metabolismmentioning

confidence: 96%

Chronic stress, epigenetics, and adipose tissue metabolism in the obese state

2020

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“…Finally, Send, Bardtke, Gilles, Wolf, Sütterlin, Wudy, et al. (2019) found a null relation between preschoolers’ urinary cortisone/(cortisone + cortisol) ratio and prenatal maternal stress or anxiety.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Trends did emerge, however, after adjusting for potential confounders such as sociodemographics. Send, Bardtke, Gilles, Wolf, Sütterlin, Wudy, et al (2019) found null relationships between maternal prenatal psychopathology and nocturnal urine cortisol and urine cortisol/cortisone ratio.…”

Section: Prenatal Maternal Psychopathologymentioning

confidence: 83%

Early childhood stress responses to psychosocial stressors: The state of the science

Bates

Militello

Barker

et al. 2022

Developmental Psychobiology

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The aim of this systematic review was to better understand whether and to what extent psychosocial stressors are associated with hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis or autonomic nervous system stress responses in young children (1-6 years of age). Studies were classified by psychosocial stressors from the ecobiodevelopmental model: social and economic resources, maternal mental health, parent-child relationships, and the physical environment. Of the 2388 identified studies, 32 met full inclusion criteria, including over 9107 children. Child physiologic stress responses were measured as hair and urinary cortisol and cortisone, salivary diurnal and reactive cortisol, salivary reactive alpha-amylase, and respiratory sinus arrhythmia. There were 107 identified relations between psychosocial stressors and physiologic stress responses. Nearly two thirds of these relations suggested that children have dysregulated stress responses as either significantly blunted (n = 27) or increased (n = 37); 43 relations were not significant. Children most consistently had significantly dysregulated stress responses if they experienced postnatal maternal depression or anxiety. Some reasons for the mixed findings may be related to characteristics of the child (i.e., moderators) or stressor, how the stress response or psychosocial stressor was measured, unmeasured variables (e.g., caregiving buffering), researcher degrees of freedom, or publication bias.

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“…There was no significant association between the change in the emotional well-being of the child and the cortisol stress reactivity at 45 months (H4). In the same longitudinal birth cohort, prenatal stress was associated with a hyporegulation of the children’s HPA axis, as indicated by lower cortisol levels after a stress test (Send et al, 2019a) and lower cortisol and cortisone levels in the first morning urine of the then 45 month-old children (Send et al, 2019b). Various factors influencing the emotional well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic could lead to intraindividual changes, such as HPA axis reactivity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The nocturnal activity of the HPA axis was assessed through the cortisol concentration in the morning urine of the children at T4. Details are described elsewhere (Send et al, 2019b). Stress reactivity was operationalized by salivary cortisol concentration before and at three timepoints after finishing the stress test at T4.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychological, endocrine and polygenic predictors of emotional well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic in a longitudinal birth cohort

Nguyen

Zillich

Cetin

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Stress is an established risk factor for somatic and mental disorders. The COVID-19 pandemic and the related countermeasures severely affect the lives of families. Prenatal stress, dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, and genetic factors might impact the well-being of individuals. The present work is part of an ongoing birth cohort study and aims to investigate maternal perceived stress, early childhood HPA axis activity and polygenic risk scores (PRSs) as predictors of emotional well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. All participants are part of the ongoing birth cohort study POSEIDON. Emotional well-being of children (n = 259) and mothers (n = 211) was assessed during the COVID-19 pandemic using the CRISIS questionnaire. Furthermore, associations between previously assessed maternal perceived stress (Perceived Stress Scale), children's salivary and morning urine cortisol measures at 45 months, PRSs for depression, schizophrenia, loneliness and current emotional well-being were investigated. A positive association between the child's and the mother's emotional well-being was found. A worse emotional well-being was observed in both children and mothers during the pandemic compared to before. Children's emotional well-being improved over the course of the pandemic, while mothers' well-being worsened. Maternal perceived stress, salivary and morning urine cortisol and PRSs were not significantly associated with the assessed emotional wellbeing. The present study confirms that emotional well-being of children and mothers is negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with differences in development over time. Future studies should examine which mechanisms contribute to stress-related associations and at which age they can be identified.

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Prenatal maternal stress is associated with lower cortisol and cortisone levels in the first morning urine of 45-month-old children

Cited by 17 publications

References 15 publications

Chronic stress, epigenetics, and adipose tissue metabolism in the obese state

Chronic stress, epigenetics, and adipose tissue metabolism in the obese state

Early childhood stress responses to psychosocial stressors: The state of the science

Psychological, endocrine and polygenic predictors of emotional well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic in a longitudinal birth cohort

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