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Early post-conception maternal cortisol, children's HPAA activity and DNA methylation profiles

C K Barha1, K G Salvante1, M J Jones2

  • 11Maternal and Child Health Lab,Faculty of Health Sciences,Simon Fraser University,Burnaby,BC,Canada.

Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease
|November 16, 2018
PubMed

Insights

Maternal stress during early development may impact children's stress response systems. Early post-conception cortisol levels in mothers were linked to their children's hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity, but epigenetic changes did not explain this connection.

Area of Science:

  • Endocrinology
  • Developmental Biology
  • Epigenetics

Background:

  • The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPAA) is crucial for biological system regulation.
  • Understanding environmental influences on HPAA development is key for health and disease origins.
  • The early post-conception (EPC) period is critical as early exposures can affect all cell lineages.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between maternal cortisol levels in the early post-conception period and children's pre-pubertal HPAA activity.
  • To explore potential mediating roles of DNA methylation in this relationship.

Main Methods:

  • Collected maternal first-morning urinary (FMU) cortisol every-other-day during the first 8 weeks post-conception (n=22 dyads).
  • Assessed children's FMU cortisol and salivary cortisol responses to a challenge.
  • Analyzed DNA methylation in children's buccal epithelial cells and its association with maternal EPC cortisol and children's HPAA activity.

Main Results:

  • Maternal EPC FMU cortisol was associated with children's FMU cortisol and salivary cortisol responses.
  • Children's HPAA activity was linked to five specific CpG sites.
  • No CpG sites were associated with both maternal EPC cortisol and children's HPAA activity, indicating no mediation by these epigenetic changes.

Conclusions:

  • Maternal cortisol during the early post-conception period is statistically linked to children's HPAA activity.
  • The studied epigenetic modifications did not statistically mediate these observed physiological links.
  • Larger prospective studies are needed to confirm findings and elucidate underlying biological mechanisms.

Keywords:
DNA methylationchild developmentcortisolearly post-conceptionhypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axissex differences

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