Maternal hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) system activity and stress during pregnancy: Effects on gestational age and infant’s anthropometric measures at birth

Gilles, Maria; Otto, H; Wolf, Isabella; Scharnholz, Barbara; Peus, Verena; Schredl, Michael; Sütterlin, Marc; Witt, Stephanie H.; Rietschel, Marcella; Laucht, Manfred; Deuschle, Michael

doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2018.04.022

Cited by 82 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…Stress is generally defined as the nonspecific response of the body to any demand made upon it [27][28][29] . Stress could activate the hypothalamic-pituitaryadrenal (HPA) axis, induce cytological effects, and lead to diseases 30 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stress adaptation is associated with insulin resistance in women with gestational diabetes mellitus

Feng

Feng²,

et al. 2020

Nutr. Diabetes

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Aim: Oxidative stress is known to increase the risk of insulin resistance (IR). The aim of this study was to investigate the association between stress hormones and IR in women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), in an attempt to gain insights into the pathogenesis of GDM. Methods: Recruited in this study were 70 GDM women and 70 healthy pregnant women as control. Malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione (GSH), plasma epinephrine (E), noradrenaline (NE), glucagon, and cortisol levels were detected. IR was assessed by homeostasis model assessment of IR (HOMA-IR) in both groups. Correlations among stress hormones, oxidative stress, and IR were analyzed by Pearson's correlation after log transformation. Results: Compared with the Control group, MDA was increased and anti-oxidative enzymes SOD and GSH were decreased significantly in the GDM group. Glucagon, E, and NE in the GDM group were increased by 22.42%, 36.82%, and 35.09%, respectively, as compared with those in the Control group. MDA showed a significant positive correlation, and SOD showed a negative correlation with HOMA-IR in the GDM group. In addition, HOMA-IR was positively related to glucagon, E, NE, and cortisol. Conclusions: Elevation of stress hormones and stress adaptation disturbance may be associated with the pathogenesis of GDM in pregnant women.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stress adaptation is associated with insulin resistance in women with gestational diabetes mellitus

Feng

Feng²,

et al. 2020

Nutr. Diabetes

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“…These include antidepressant use during pregnancy (although increased risk for PTB has also been found in those with untreated antenatal depression [ 39 , 48 ]), obstetric morbidities of preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, and gestational hypertension [ 49 , 50 ] and health risks such as substance use, poor nutrition and reduced engagement with antenatal care [ 2 , 51 ]. Antenatal CMD symptoms may also lead to adverse birth outcomes through impacts on maternal endocrine and immune functioning, all implicated in PTB [ 52 , 53 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parental mental health before and during pregnancy and offspring birth outcomes: A 20-year preconception cohort of maternal and paternal exposure

et al. 2020

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Background Preterm birth (PTB) and small for gestational age (SGA) are increasingly prevalent, with major consequences for health and development into later life. There is emerging evidence that some risk processes begin before pregnancy. We report on associations between maternal and paternal common mental disorders (CMD) before and during pregnancy and offspring PTB and SGA. Methods 398 women with 609 infants and 267 men with 421 infants were assessed repeatedly for CMD symptoms before pregnancy between age 14 and 29 and during pregnancy. Associations between preconception and antenatal CMD symptoms and offspring gestational age/PTB and size for gestational age/SGA were estimated using linear and Poisson regression. Findings In men, persistent preconception CMD across adolescence and young adulthood predicted offspring PTB after adjustment for ethnicity, education, BMI and adolescent substance use (adjusted RR 7·0, 95% CI 1·8,26·8), corresponding to a population attributable fraction of 31% of preterm births. In women, antenatal CMD symptoms predicted offspring PTB (adjusted RR 4·4, 95% CI 1·4,14·1). There was little evidence of associations with SGA. Interpretation This first report of an association between paternal preconception mental health and offspring gestational age, while requiring replication in larger samples, complements earlier work on stress in animals, and further strengthens the case for expanding preconception mental health care to both men and women. Funding National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia), Victorian Health Promotion Foundation, Australian Rotary Health, Colonial Foundation, Perpetual Trustees, Financial Markets Foundation for Children (Australia), Royal Children's Hospital Foundation, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Australian Research Council.

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“…Most of the studies published on the topic have been conducted predominately in White and highly educated populations [35,36,38,39,41,42,46]. Only five studies have been completed in diverse populations similar to the MADRES cohort both ethnically and socio-economically.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Prenatal studies on the effects of HPA-axis on infant birth weight have produced mixed results. Although higher prenatal cortisol concentration has been identified as an independent predictor of lower infant birth weight in some study populations [35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43], it has not been shown in others [44][45][46]. This divergence in results may be due to differing demographics within study populations and their stress responses, or inconsistencies in the methods used to capture and interpret cortisol concentrations and diurnal responses [47].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Prenatal Maternal Cortisol Levels and Infant Birth Weight in a Predominately Low-Income Hispanic Cohort

Peterson

Toledo-Corral

Chavez

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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Infant birth weight influences numerous health outcomes throughout the life course including childhood obesity and metabolic morbidities. Maternal experience of stress, both before and during pregnancy, has been hypothesized to influence fetal growth and birth outcomes. However, these associations currently are not fully understood, due to conflicting results in the published literature. Salivary cortisol is often used as a biological biomarker to assess the diurnal pattern of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis (HPA-axis) functioning. Cortisol metrics include both the total cortisol concentration secreted during waking hours, reflected by the area under the curve (AUC), and cortisol dynamics, which include the diurnal cortisol slope (DCS) and the cortisol awakening response (CAR). This study examined the association of these cortisol metrics measured during the third trimester of pregnancy and infant birth weight among 240 mother-infant dyads participating in the Maternal and Developmental Risks from Environmental and Social Stressors (MADRES) pregnancy cohort study, which is predominately comprised of Hispanic low-income women. There were no significant associations with the maternal biological stress response and infant birth weight in this study. More research is needed in larger studies to better understand how the biological stress response influences birth weight in populations facing health disparities.

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Maternal hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) system activity and stress during pregnancy: Effects on gestational age and infant’s anthropometric measures at birth

Cited by 82 publications

References 59 publications

Stress adaptation is associated with insulin resistance in women with gestational diabetes mellitus

Stress adaptation is associated with insulin resistance in women with gestational diabetes mellitus

Parental mental health before and during pregnancy and offspring birth outcomes: A 20-year preconception cohort of maternal and paternal exposure

Prenatal Maternal Cortisol Levels and Infant Birth Weight in a Predominately Low-Income Hispanic Cohort

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