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

BJPsych Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlinde W. Broeks ◽  
Vandhana Choenni ◽  
Rianne Kok ◽  
Bibian van der Voorn ◽  
Ineke de Kruijff ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Psychiatric Disorders ◽  
Placental Transfer ◽  
Perinatal Period ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Hair Cortisol ◽  
Stress Exposure ◽  
Maternal Psychopathology ◽  
Healthy Control ◽  
Maternal Psychiatric Disorders

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.

Perinatal psychiatry

2020 ◽  
pp. 767-776
Author(s):  
Ian Jones ◽  
Arianna Di Florio
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Psychiatric Disorders ◽  
Common Mental Disorders ◽  
Post Partum ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Perinatal Period ◽  
Her Family ◽  
Perinatal Psychiatry ◽  
Considerable Impact ◽  
Maternal Psychiatric Disorders

Perinatal psychiatric disorders are common, with around 10% of women experiencing depressive symptoms in pregnancy or in the months after delivery. They may also be severe, with post-partum psychosis representing some of the most severe episodes of illness seen in psychiatric practice. Perinatal mental illness is not only significant for the health of the mother, but also for the well-being of her child, and may have a considerable impact on her family and wider society. Despite their importance, maternal psychiatric disorders remain underdiagnosed and undertreated. This chapter will focus attention on episodes of severe mental illness occurring in the periantal period but will also consider other, more common mental disorders. The chapter will consider both episodes having their onset in the perinatal period and those that represent a continuation of pre-existing condition.

scholarly journals Environment in Children’s Health: A New Challenge for Risk Assessment

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (19) ◽  
pp. 10445
Author(s):  
Francesca Mastorci ◽  
Nunzia Linzalone ◽  
Lamia Ait-Ali ◽  
Alessandro Pingitore
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Placental Transfer ◽  
Time Windows ◽  
Perinatal Period ◽  
Educational Opportunities ◽  
Chemical Pollution ◽  
Behavioral Characteristics ◽  
Contaminant Exposure ◽  
Assessment Approach

In the last few years, many studies have focused on the effects of environmental contaminant exposure during the prenatal period or infancy as predictors of health outcomes in the future. In these time windows, due to their rapid growth, and physiologic and metabolic development, we can observe a higher vulnerability to the effects of environment, with respect to adulthood. The evidence of possible influences, partly mediated by epigenetic mechanisms, involve neurobehavioral responses and immune, endocrine, and respiratory systems, acting directly on the child or indirectly when mediated by placental transfer or breast feeding. In particular, due to a greater intake of air, food, and fluids relative to body weight, crawling behaviors and short stature, the risk of excessive exposure is greater in children. However, data on the long-term implications of early exposures are scarce. Additionally, so that physicians and institutions for child care and assistance of pregnant women can take actions to counteract the effects of chemical pollution (i.e., by educational opportunities), a risk assessment perspective that responds to the biocomplexity of the human being is needed. The present paper provides an overview of physiologic and behavioral characteristics during the perinatal period and in childhood, suggesting in a more integrated way, the need of a new risk-assessment approach to managing chronic disease in pediatric patients.

Comparison of Auditory, Language, Memory, and Attention Abilities in Children With and Without Listening Difficulties

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 710-727
Author(s):  
Beula M. Magimairaj ◽  
Naveen K. Nagaraj ◽  
Alexander V. Sergeev ◽  
Natalie J. Benafield
Keyword(s):  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Significant Group ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Memory And Attention ◽  
Speed And Accuracy

Objectives School-age children with and without parent-reported listening difficulties (LiD) were compared on auditory processing, language, memory, and attention abilities. The objective was to extend what is known so far in the literature about children with LiD by using multiple measures and selective novel measures across the above areas. Design Twenty-six children who were reported by their parents as having LiD and 26 age-matched typically developing children completed clinical tests of auditory processing and multiple measures of language, attention, and memory. All children had normal-range pure-tone hearing thresholds bilaterally. Group differences were examined. Results In addition to significantly poorer speech-perception-in-noise scores, children with LiD had reduced speed and accuracy of word retrieval from long-term memory, poorer short-term memory, sentence recall, and inferencing ability. Statistically significant group differences were of moderate effect size; however, standard test scores of children with LiD were not clinically poor. No statistically significant group differences were observed in attention, working memory capacity, vocabulary, and nonverbal IQ. Conclusions Mild signal-to-noise ratio loss, as reflected by the group mean of children with LiD, supported the children's functional listening problems. In addition, children's relative weakness in select areas of language performance, short-term memory, and long-term memory lexical retrieval speed and accuracy added to previous research on evidence-based areas that need to be evaluated in children with LiD who almost always have heterogenous profiles. Importantly, the functional difficulties faced by children with LiD in relation to their test results indicated, to some extent, that commonly used assessments may not be adequately capturing the children's listening challenges. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.12808607

Metabolic abnormalities in patients with chronic psychiatric disorders receiving long-term psychopharmacological treatment

2005 ◽  
Vol 38 (05) ◽  
Author(s):  
B Reisinger ◽  
E Mueller ◽  
B Kropp-Hartmann ◽  
D Wölflick ◽  
C Zimmerer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Psychiatric Disorders ◽  
Metabolic Abnormalities ◽  
Psychopharmacological Treatment

Anthropologic Relationships among Prehistoric Northeastern Amerindians

1980 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-159
Author(s):  
Edward F. Harris ◽  
Nicholas F. Bellantoni
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Gene Flow ◽  
Material Culture ◽  
New England ◽  
Cultural Barriers ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Phenetic Analysis ◽  
Trade Relationships ◽  
Good Agreement

Archaeologically defined inter-group differences in the Northeast subarea ate assessed with a phenetic analysis of published craniometric information. Spatial distinctions in the material culture are in good agreement with those defined by the cranial metrics. The fundamental dichotomy, between the Ontario Iroquois and the eastern grouping of New York and New England, suggests a long-term dissociation between these two groups relative to their ecologic adaptations, trade relationships, trait-list associations, and natural and cultural barriers to gene flow.

scholarly journals When a Neonate Is Born, So Is a Microbiota

Life ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 148
Author(s):  
Alessandra Coscia ◽  
Flaminia Bardanzellu ◽  
Elisa Caboni ◽  
Vassilios Fanos ◽  
Diego Giampietro Peroni
Keyword(s):  
Bacterial Colonization ◽  
Perinatal Period ◽  
Delivery Mode ◽  
Fetal Life ◽  
Assisted Reproduction Techniques ◽  
Neonatal Nutrition ◽  
Short And Long Term ◽  
Number Of Bacteria

In recent years, the role of human microbiota as a short- and long-term health promoter and modulator has been affirmed and progressively strengthened. In the course of one’s life, each subject is colonized by a great number of bacteria, which constitute its specific and individual microbiota. Human bacterial colonization starts during fetal life, in opposition to the previous paradigm of the “sterile womb”. Placenta, amniotic fluid, cord blood and fetal tissues each have their own specific microbiota, influenced by maternal health and habits and having a decisive influence on pregnancy outcome and offspring outcome. The maternal microbiota, especially that colonizing the genital system, starts to influence the outcome of pregnancy already before conception, modulating fertility and the success rate of fertilization, even in the case of assisted reproduction techniques. During the perinatal period, neonatal microbiota seems influenced by delivery mode, drug administration and many other conditions. Special attention must be reserved for early neonatal nutrition, because breastfeeding allows the transmission of a specific and unique lactobiome able to modulate and positively affect the neonatal gut microbiota. Our narrative review aims to investigate the currently identified pre- and peri-natal factors influencing neonatal microbiota, before conception, during pregnancy, pre- and post-delivery, since the early microbiota influences the whole life of each subject.

scholarly journals Hair Cortisol Concentration as a Biomarker of Sleep Quality and Related Disorders

Life ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 81
Author(s):  
Nisrin El Mlili ◽  
Hanan Ahabrach ◽  
Omar Cauli
Keyword(s):  
Sleep Disorders ◽  
Reference Ranges ◽  
Hair Cortisol ◽  
Neuropsychiatric Diseases ◽  
Close Relationship ◽  
Adults And Children ◽  
Experimental Approaches ◽  
Common Manifestation ◽  
Functional Alteration

Cortisol is the end product of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, and its production is increased mainly in stressful situations or in chronic disorders accompanied by stress enhancement. Altered cortisol concentrations have been reported in a number of neuropsychiatric diseases and sleep disorders. Cortisol concentrations have been measured using several methods, and in several matrixes, such as blood, saliva, and urine. However, lately, hair cortisol, for several reasons, has emerged as a promising biomarker of long-term retrospective HPA activation. Several experimental approaches for cortisol measurement with the corresponding concentration reference ranges and a summary of findings from scientific literature on this field are presented. There is evidence of a close relationship between HPA functional alteration and the development of neuropsychiatric disorders. Sleep disorders are the most common manifestation in several neuropsychiatric conditions, and have also been associated to cortisol alterations in both adults and children. Many studies indicate that hair cortisol constitutes a valuable tool for further contributing to existing data on salivary, plasma, or urinary cortisol concentrations in patients with sleep disorders.

Exploring the effects of oily fish consumption on measures of acute and long-term stress in healthy 8-9-year-old children: The FiSK Junior randomized trial

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Marie N Teisen ◽  
Stine Vuholm ◽  
Jesper M Rantanen ◽  
Jeppe H Christensen ◽  
Camilla T Damsgaard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Fish Consumption ◽  
Cold Pressor Test ◽  
Cold Pressor ◽  
Heart Beat ◽  
Autonomic Response ◽  
Hair Cortisol ◽  
Oily Fish ◽  
Fish Group

Abstract Long-chain n-3 PUFA (n-3 LCPUFA) have been shown to reduce blood pressure, heart rate and vagal tone, but potential stress-mitigating effects of n-3 LCPUFA are not well investigated. We aim to explore the effects of oily fish consumption on long-term stress and the stress response in schoolchildren. Healthy 8-9-year-old children were randomized to receive ~300 g/week of oily fish or poultry for 12 ± 2 weeks. At baseline and endpoint, we measured erythrocyte n-3 LCPUFA, hair cortisol and the response to a 1-min cold pressor test (CPT) on saliva cortisol, blood pressure, and continuous electrocardiogram recordings. Of the 199 randomized children, 197 completed the trial. Hair cortisol did not differ between the groups, but a sex-interaction was indicated (Psex*group = 0.074, difference between means -0.9 (95% CI: -2.9,1.0) ng/g and 0.7 (-0.2,1.6) ng/g in boys and girls, respectively). The children in the fish group tended to be less prone to terminate CPT prematurely (OR 0.20 [0.02,1.04]). The mean heart beat interval during CPT was 18.2 (0.3,36.6) ms longer and the high frequency power increased (159 (29,289) ms2) in the fish versus the poultry group. The cardiac autonomic response in the 10 min following CPT was characterized by a sympathetic peak followed by a parasympathetic peak, which was most pronounced in the fish group. This exploratory study does not support a strong effect of oily fish consumption on stress, but indicates that oily fish consumption may increase vagal cardiac tone during the physiological response to CPT. These results warrant further investigation.

Age Differences in Types and Perceptions of Daily Stress

2021 ◽  
pp. 009141502110015
Author(s):  
Alexis R. Stefaniak ◽  
Jessica M. Blaxton ◽  
C. S. Bergeman
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Perceived Stress ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Preventative Care ◽  
Stress Exposure ◽  
Daily Stress ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Related Stress

The present study explores differences in daily stress across individuals of varying ages. Specifically, we explore whether age group (young adult, midlife, late midlife, later life) relates to differences in types of stress (family, friends, partner, health, finances, work), total stress exposure, and perceptions of daily stress intensity. Participants from the Notre Dame Study of Health & Well-being (NDHWB; N = 891) completed daily questionnaires assessing negative small life events and perceived stress for 8 weeks. Findings indicated that young adults reported a higher average number of family, spouse, finance, and work-related stress. Additionally, total daily stress was highest among young adults, and perceived stress was lowest among later life adults. Because daily stress relates to long-term mental and physical stress, gaining a better understanding of how individuals at different points in the life span uniquely experience stress can inform intervention and preventative care techniques aimed at promoting optimal well-being.

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