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Cortisol awakening response in infants during the first six postnatal months and its relation to birth outcome

Marion Tegethoff1, Nicole Knierzinger, Andrea H Meyer

  • 1Division of Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.

Psychoneuroendocrinology
|September 7, 2012
PubMed

Insights

A salivary cortisol awakening response (CAR) exists in infants, showing a significant rise within 30 minutes of waking. This infant CAR is linked to length of gestation, offering a new biomarker for early life stress and development.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental neuroscience
  • Endocrinology
  • Pediatrics

Background:

  • The cortisol awakening response (CAR) is a well-documented marker of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis reactivity in adults and children.
  • Understanding CAR in infants is crucial for assessing early-life stress and HPA axis development.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To demonstrate the existence of a salivary cortisol awakening response (CAR) in infants.
  • To investigate the association between infant CAR and birth outcomes, specifically length of gestation.

Main Methods:

  • A community-based study involving 64 healthy infants up to six months of age.
  • Salivary cortisol was collected immediately and 30 minutes after awakening on two separate days.
  • Birth outcome data, including length of gestation, were obtained from medical records and questionnaires.

Main Results:

  • A significant rise in infant salivary cortisol concentrations was observed within 30 minutes of awakening (p<0.001).
  • The infant CAR demonstrated stability across the two sampling days (r=0.40, p=0.002).
  • A longer length of gestation was found to predict a higher infant CAR (p=0.018).

Conclusions:

  • The study confirms the presence of a CAR in infants within the first six postnatal months.
  • The relationship between infant CAR and length of gestation highlights its potential as a biomarker in developmental neuroscience.
  • The infant CAR serves as a non-invasive indicator of HPA axis dynamics, relevant for future research and clinical applications.
Abstract

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