Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) activity is altered postpartum and has been associated with several puerperal disorders. However, little is known about the association of maternal HPA activity during pregnancy with maternal HPA responsiveness to stress after parturition. Within a longitudinal study with an experimental component, we assessed in 22 women the salivary cortisol awakening resp...

OBJECTIVES Maternal prenatal stress is associated with elevated risk of adverse behavioural outcomes in offspring. This association may involve developmental disruption to limbic-prefrontal white matter circuitry, of which the uncinate fasciculus is the major tract. One potential candidate for modulating brain development is maternal prenatal stress. We provide the first prospective study of pr...

Dermatoglyphic asymmetry of fingertip ridge counts is more frequent in schizophrenia patients than normal controls, and may reflect disruptions in fetal development during Weeks 14-22 when fingerprints develop. However, there are no data in humans linking specific adverse events at specific times to dermatoglyphic asymmetries. Our objective was to determine whether prenatal exposure to a natura...

OBJECTIVE Autonomic nervous system (ANS) misbalance is a potential causal factor in the development of cardiovascular disease. The ANS may be programmed during pregnancy due to various maternal factors. Our aim is to study maternal prenatal psychosocial stress as a potential disruptor of cardiac ANS balance in the child. METHODS Mothers from a prospective birth cohort (ABCD study) filled out ...

Background. Previous studies have shown that psychological stress is linked to asthma prevalence. Parental psychological stress may potentially influence inflammatory responses in their allergic children. The purpose of this study is to clarify the association between maternal psychological status and inflammatory response of allergic young children. Methods. The study subjects were 152 young a...

Exposures to various types of early life stress can be robust predictors of the development of psychiatric disorders, including depression and anxiety. The objective of the current study was to investigate the roles of the translationally relevant targets of central vasopressin, oxytocin, ghrelin, orexin, glucocorticoid, and the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) pathway in an early chron...

Maternal stress or anxiety during pregnancy can lead to neurodevelopmental and other problems in the child, and cortisol is one possible mediator. Animal models show that maternal prenatal stress can affect placental function, including regulation of placental 11beta-HSD2, the main barrier to the placental passage of cortisol. It is not known whether a parallel process exists in humans. The aim...

Impact of Maternal Heat Stress in Late Gestation on Blood Hormones and Metabolites of Newborn Calves J-R Guo, A. P. A. Monteiro, X-S. Weng, B. M. Ahmed, J. Laporta, M. J. Hayen, G. E. Dahl, J. K. Bernard, and S. Tao ABSTRACT Maternal heat stress alters immune function of the offspring, as well as metabolism and future lactational performance, but its impact on the hormonal and metabolic respons...

A medical literature that provides biological pathways from maternal stress to adverse birth outcomes, coupled with a growing consensus that birth characteristics are predictive of later life wellbeing, suggest that events that cause psychological trauma during pregnancy may have dire consequences for the next generation. Due to the unexpected nature of the terrorist attacks of September 11th, ...