An exploratory study of perinatal hair cortisol concentrations in mother-infant dyads with severe psychiatric disorders versus healthy controls

C.W. Broeks, V. Choenni, R. Kok, B. Van Der Voorn, I. De Kruijff, E.L.T. Van Den Akker, E.F.C. Van Rossum, W.J.G. Hoogendijk, M.H.J. Hillegers, A.M. Kamperman, M.P. Lambregtse-Van Den Berg

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.Background Maternal psychopathology during pregnancy is associated with negative outcomes in offspring. Increased placental transfer of maternal cortisol may contribute to mediate this association. Hair cortisol concentrations (HCCs) appear to be a good biomarker of long-term prenatal stress exposure. Little is known about the associations between severe maternal psychopathology and perinatal infant HCCs. Aims We assessed HCCs in the perinatal period in mother-infant dyads with and without severe psychiatric disorders. Method We examined group differences in HCCs of mother-infant dyads (n = 18) subjected to severe maternal psychiatric disorders versus healthy control dyads (n = 27). We assessed the correlation of HCCs between mother and infant within both groups, and the association between current maternal symptoms and HCCs in patient dyads. Results Median (interquartile range) and distribution of HCC differed in patients compared with control mothers (U = 468.5, P = 0.03). HCCs in infants of patients did not differ from control infants (U = 250.0, P = 0.67). Subsequently, we found that HCCs within healthy control dyads were correlated (n = 27, r 0.55 (0.14), P = 0.003), but were not within patient dyads (n = 18, r 0.082 (0.13), P = 0.746). HCCs in infants of patients showed a positive correlation with maternal symptoms (n = 16, r = 0.63 (0.06), P = 0.008). Conclusions These preliminary findings suggest that infant HCC reflect perinatal stress exposure. In infants, these early differences could influence lifetime hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis functioning, which might be associated with increased susceptibility to later disease.
Original languageEnglish
Article numbere28
JournalBJPsych Open
Volume7
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020
Externally publishedYes

Funding

This research has been funded by the Sophia Foundation for Scientific Research (grant no. 670).

FundersFunder number
Sophia Foundation for Scientific Research670

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