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Could monoamine plasma levels and erythrocyte membrane ATPase activities at birth be predictive for future hand
Larissa Takser1, Dave Campagna, Phillippe Blot
1Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale U472, Recherche en Epidimiologie et en Biostatistique, 16 avenue Paul Vaillant Couturier, 94807 Villejuif Cedex, France. takser@vjf.inserm.fr
Insights
Prenatal levels of monoamine and intracellular calcium systems influence early childhood psychomotor development. Specifically, higher levels of these systems at birth correlate with better hand skills by age six.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Biology
- Biochemistry
Background:
- Monoamine and intracellular calcium systems are crucial for nervous system function, but their role in prenatal human brain development remains largely unknown.
- Understanding these systems' prenatal influence is vital for identifying early developmental markers and potential interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between prenatal monoamine and intracellular calcium system activity and subsequent psychomotor performance in healthy children.
- To determine if specific biochemical markers at birth can predict later developmental outcomes.
Main Methods:
- Prospective study of 247 children from birth to 6 years.
- Umbilical cord blood samples analyzed for dopamine and serotonin metabolites (homovanillic acid, 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid) and ATPase activities (Na+K+-ATPase, Ca2+Mg2+-ATPase).
- Psychomotor development assessed using Brunet-Lézine Scales (9 months) and McCarthy Scales of Children's Ability (3 and 6 years).
Main Results:
- Hand skill scores at age 6 were significantly and negatively correlated with prenatal ATPase activities and monoamine metabolite concentrations.
- Combined ATPase activities and monoamine metabolite concentrations at birth explained 29% of the variance in hand skill scores at age 6.
- No significant associations were found between these biochemical measures and other cognitive scores.
Conclusions:
- Prenatal monoaminergic and ATPase activities are important factors in early human psychomotor development.
- Fine motor skills assessments may be more sensitive indicators of developmental correlations with prenatal biochemical factors than general cognitive scales.
Abstract:
The monoamine and intracellular calcium systems are two major elements of nervous system functions. However, their role in human brain development is unclear. We studied the association between activity of monoamine and intracellular calcium systems during prenatal life and subsequent psychomotor performances in healthy children. We used prospective data from 247 children followed from birth through 6 y of age. Among those, 195 were examined at 9 mo using the Brunet-Lézine Scales, whereas 126 were examined at 3 y and 100 at 6 y using the McCarthy Scales of Children's Ability. A blood sample was collected from the umbilical cord to measure levels of dopamine and serotonin metabolites (homovanillic acid and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid, respectively) and ATPase activities (Na+K+-ATPase and Ca2+Mg2+-ATPase). The hand skill score at 6 y of age was significantly and negatively correlated with ATPase activities and with monoamine metabolite concentrations. No other cognitive score was related to biochemical measures at birth. Results were adjusted for child's sex, mother's educational level, duration of labor, and tea consumption. Composite scores of ATPase activities and monoamine metabolite concentrations measured at birth explained 29% of hand skill score variance at 6 y. Our results demonstrate the importance of prenatal factors on monoaminergic and ATPase activities in early human psychomotor development. This study also suggests that specific psychometric measures such as fine motor tests may be a better developmental measurement to correlate with biochemical factors than general cognitive scales.
