Maternal cortisol output in pregnancy and newborn telomere length: Evidence for sex-specific effects
Maternal cortisol output in pregnancy and newborn telomere length: Evidence for sex-specific effects
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DOI：
10.1016/j.psyneuen.2018.12.222
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发表时间：
2019-04-01
影响因子：
3.7
通讯作者：
Wright, Rosalind J.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Enlow, Michelle Bosquet;Sideridis, Georgios;Wright, Rosalind J.
新生儿端粒长度是母胎过程对后代长期健康影响的潜在生物标志物。怀孕期间母亲的一些社会心理和环境因素（如压力、健康、社会经济地位）与出生时端粒长度缩短有关。母体因素对新生儿端粒长度的潜在影响的生理机制尚未确定。间接证据表明，母体下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺（HPA）轴在怀孕期间的功能紊乱可能与此有关。孕妇妊娠期HPA轴功能是否与新生儿端粒长度相关尚需进一步研究。本研究调查了在分娩后一周内收集的头发皮质醇是否反映了母亲HPA轴在怀孕期间的功能，并通过出生时收集的白细胞脐带血评估了93对不同社会人口统计学的母婴对的新生儿端粒长度。考虑到产前环境暴露对后代健康的影响、妊娠期皮质醇暴露模式和整个生命周期的端粒生物学方面的性别差异，我们进一步测试了母亲头发皮质醇和新生儿端粒长度之间的关系是否因婴儿性别而不同。在一项多组结构方程建模分析中，考虑了三个月期间的皮质醇暴露情况，在整个样本中，孕妇的皮质醇水平与新生儿端粒长度无关。然而，显著的性别差异出现了，在女性中有显著的正相关，而在男性中没有显著的关联。此外，分析显示，在整个孕期，男婴母亲的皮质醇水平高于女婴母亲。结果表明，妊娠期母体HPA轴的功能可能因胎儿性别而异，并对新生儿端粒生物学有性别特异性影响。这些发现有助于理解母亲的社会心理和环境暴露影响新生儿端粒长度的机制，并有助于阐明导致健康方面性别差异的机制。
Newborn telomere length is a potential biomarker of the effects of maternal-fetal processes on offspring long-term health. A number of maternal psychosocial and environmental factors in pregnancy (e.g., stress, health, socioeconomic status) have been associated with shortened telomere length at birth. The physiological mechanisms responsible for potential effects of maternal factors on newborn telomere length have yet to be identified. Indirect evidence suggests that disruptions in maternal hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis functioning in pregnancy may be involved. Studies are needed that test whether maternal HPA axis functioning in pregnancy is associated with newborn telomere length. This study examined whether maternal HPA axis functioning across pregnancy, reflected in hair cortisol collected within one week after delivery, predicted newborn telomere length assessed from leukocyte cord blood collected at birth among 93 sociodemographically diverse mother-infant dyads. We further tested whether associations between maternal hair cortisol and newborn telomere length differed by infant sex, given documented sex differences in prenatal environmental exposure effects on offspring health, patterns of cortisol exposure during gestation, and telomere biology across the lifespan. In a multi-group structural equation modeling analysis that accounted for cortisol exposures across trimesters, maternal cortisol levels in pregnancy were not associated with newborn telomere length in the sample as a whole. However, significant sex differences emerged, with a significant positive association among females and a lack of a significant association among males. In addition, analyses revealed that cortisol levels were higher across trimesters among mothers of male infants than mothers of female infants. The results suggest that functioning of the maternal HPA axis in pregnancy may differ by fetal sex and have sex-specific effects on newborn telomere biology. These findings have implications for understanding the mechanisms by which maternal psychosocial and environmental exposures influence newborn telomere length and for elucidating mechanisms contributing to sex disparities in health.