Alterations of hair cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone in mother-infant-dyads with maternal childhood maltreatment

BMC Psychiatry

Research Article

A. Karabatsiakis¹  I.-T. Kolassa¹  A. M. Koenig¹  K. Schury²  A. L. Hulbert³  U. Ziegenhain⁴  J. M. Fegert⁴  F. Reister⁵  D. Isele⁶  H. Guendel⁷  S. Krause⁷  M. Umlauft⁸  S. Kolassa⁹ 

[1] Clinical and Biological Psychology, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, Albert-Einstein-Allee 47, 89081, Ulm, Germany;Clinical and Biological Psychology, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, Albert-Einstein-Allee 47, 89081, Ulm, Germany;Department of Child and Adolscent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Ulm, 89075, Ulm, Germany;Clinical and Biological Psychology, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, Albert-Einstein-Allee 47, 89081, Ulm, Germany;Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Ulm, 89081, Ulm, Germany;Department of Child and Adolscent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Ulm, 89075, Ulm, Germany;Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Hospital Ulm, 89075, Ulm, Germany;Department of Psychology, University of Konstanz and vivo international, 78457, Konstanz, Germany;Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Ulm, 89081, Ulm, Germany;Institute of Statistics, Ulm University, 89081, Ulm, Germany;SAP Switzerland, 8274, Tägerwilen, Switzerland;

关键词: Cortisol;    DHEA;    Hair;    Childhood maltreatment;    Pregnancy;    Transgenerational;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12888-017-1367-2

 received in 2016-11-12, accepted in 2017-05-19,  发布年份 2017

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundChild maltreatment (CM) has severe effects on psychological and physical health. The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, the major stress system of the body, is dysregulated after CM. The analysis of cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) in scalp hair presents a new and promising methodological approach to assess chronic HPA axis activity. This study investigated the effects of CM on HPA axis activity in the last trimester of pregnancy by measuring the two important signaling molecules, cortisol and DHEA in hair, shortly after parturition. In addition, we explored potential effects of maternal CM on her offspring’s endocrine milieu during pregnancy by measuring cortisol and DHEA in newborns’ hair.MethodsCM was assessed with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). Cortisol and DHEA were measured in hair samples of 94 mothers and 30 newborns, collected within six days after delivery. Associations of maternal CM on her own and her newborn’s cortisol as well as DHEA concentrations in hair were analyzed with heteroscedastic regression models.ResultsHigher CM was associated with significantly higher DHEA levels, but not cortisol concentrations in maternal hair. Moreover, maternal CM was positively, but only as a non-significant trend, associated with higher DHEA levels in the newborns’ hair.ConclusionsResults suggest that the steroid milieu of the mother, at least on the level of DHEA, is altered after CM, possibly leading to non-genomic transgenerational effects on the developing fetus in utero. Indeed, we observed on an explorative level first hints that the endocrine milieu for the developing child might be altered in CM mothers. These results need extension and replication in future studies. The measurement of hair steroids in mothers and their newborns is promising, but more research is needed to better understand the effects of a maternal history of CM on the developing fetus.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2017