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The correlation between stress response term babies with intrauterine growth restriction and adulthood disease

Manal Eldegeir1, Cornelius Ani2, Sally McGregor3

  • 1JACO NGO

Qatar Medical Journal
|November 29, 2023
PubMed

Insights

Infants with intrauterine growth retardation exhibit blunted physiological and behavioral stress responses. This inhibition, linked to severity, may predispose them to future health issues like allergies and autoimmune disorders.

Area of Science:

  • Neonatal physiology and stress response.
  • Developmental origins of health and disease.

Background:

  • Millions of babies are born with low birth weight (LBW) or intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) annually, particularly in developing nations like Sudan.
  • Poor maternal nutrition and food insecurity exacerbate LBW and IUGR rates, impacting infant health.
  • IUGR is linked to developmental disorders, potentially via intrauterine programming of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the physiological and behavioral stress responses in term-born LBW (T-LBW) infants compared to term-born normal birth weight (T-NBW) infants.
  • To assess salivary cortisol levels at rest and after a physical stressor in T-LBW versus T-NBW neonates.
  • To compare behavioral reactions to physical stressors between T-LBW and T-NBW neonates.

Main Methods:

  • A hospital-based, matched case-control study involving 65 T-LBW neonates (cases) and 67 T-NBW neonates (controls).
  • Participants were matched for age (4-6 hours), gestational age, and mode of delivery.
  • Measurements included anthropometry, salivary cortisol (pre- and post-heel prick), and behavioral ratings.

Main Results:

  • IUGR neonates were significantly smaller and had lower basal cortisol levels compared to controls.
  • Following stressors, IUGR neonates showed a blunted cortisol response and less vigorous crying.
  • Anthropometric measures positively correlated with behavioral and cortisol responses; stunting was more linked to behavioral inhibition than wasting.

Conclusions:

  • The severity of intrauterine growth retardation correlates with inhibited behavioral and physiological stress responses in neonates.
  • This physiological inhibition may contribute to the development of 'mismatch diseases' later in life.
  • Findings highlight the long-term health implications of IUGR and the importance of early life nutrition.
Abstract

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