TY  - JOUR
A1  - Send, Tabea
A1  - Bardtke, S.
A1  - Gilles, M.
A1  - Wolf, I. A. C.
A1  - Sütterlin, Marc Wolf
A1  - Wudy, S. A.
A1  - Wang, R.
A1  - Laucht, Manfred
A1  - Witt, Stephanie H.
A1  - Rietschel, Marcella
A1  - Streit, Fabian
A1  - Deuschle, Michael
T1  - Prenatal maternal stress is associated with lower cortisol and cortisone levels in the first morning urine of 45-month-old children
JF  - Psychoneuroendocrinology
N2  - Prenatal stress (PS) has been related to altered hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity later in life. So far, studies in children assessing HPA axis functioning have focused on salivary cortisol, reflecting daytime activity. The present work is part of a prospective study and aims to extend knowledge about the association between PS and HPA axis regulation in children. To do so, we investigated cortisol, cortisone, and the ratio cortisone/(cortisone + cortisol) in the first morning urine of 45-month-old children in relation to several measures of maternal stress during pregnancy. Urinary cortisol and cortisone were measured by online turbulent flow chromatography coupled with high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. PS was defined as: perceived stress for aim 1 (Perceived Stress Scale; n = 280); presence of self-reported (n = 371) and expert-rated psychopathology for aim 2 (Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview; n = 281); continuous measures of anxiety and depression for exploratory aim 3 (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale; n = 280). The ratio cortisone/(cortisone + cortisol) as a global marker for the balance between the enzymes metabolizing cortisol to cortisone and vice versa (11 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases type 1 and 2; 11 beta-HSD1 and 2) was not associated with any measure of maternal PS (aims 1-3). The present study provides insight into possible programming effects of PS on nocturnal HPA axis activity and a proxy of 11 beta-HSD in a large sample. The results suggest that the nocturnal rate of cortisol production is lower in children exposed to PS, but do not support the hypothesis of divergent 11 beta-HSD activity.
KW  - Prenatal stress
KW  - Cortisol
KW  - Cortisone
KW  - HPA axis
KW  - Perceived stress
KW  - Psychopathology
Y1  - 2019
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2019.01.017
SN  - 0306-4530
VL  - 103
SP  - 219
EP  - 224
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Oxford
ER  -