The Generation R Study Group, Erasmus MC-University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Horm Behav. 2010 Feb;57(2):247-54. doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2009.12.001. Epub 2009 Dec 16.
Dysregulation of diurnal cortisol secretion patterns may explain the link between adversities early in life and later mental health problems. However, few studies have investigated the influence of social disadvantage and family adversity on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis early in life. In 366 infants aged 12-20 months from the Generation R Study, a population-based cohort from fetal life onwards, parents collected saliva samples from their infant at 5 moments over the course of 1 day. The area under the curve (AUC), the cortisol awakening response (CAR) and the diurnal cortisol slope were calculated as different composite measures of the diurnal cortisol rhythm. Information about social disadvantage and early adversity was collected using prenatal and postnatal questionnaires. We found that older infants showed lower AUC levels; moreover, infants with a positive CAR were significantly older. Both the AUC and the CAR were related to indicators of social disadvantage and early adversity. Infants of low income families, in comparison to high income families, showed higher AUC levels and a positive CAR. Infants of mothers who smoked during pregnancy were also significantly more likely to show a positive CAR. Furthermore, infants of mothers experiencing parenting stress showed higher AUC levels. The results of our study show that effects of social disadvantage and early adversity on the diurnal cortisol rhythm are already observable in infants. This may reflect the influence of early negative life events on early maturation of the HPA axis.
昼夜皮质醇分泌模式的失调可能解释了生命早期逆境与后期心理健康问题之间的联系。然而，很少有研究调查社会劣势和家庭逆境对生命早期下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺（HPA）轴的影响。在 Generation R 研究中，有 366 名 12-20 个月大的婴儿，这是一项从胎儿期开始的基于人群的队列研究，父母在一天中的 5 个时间点从婴儿身上收集唾液样本。曲线下面积（AUC）、皮质醇觉醒反应（CAR）和日间皮质醇斜率作为昼夜皮质醇节律的不同综合测量值进行计算。使用产前和产后问卷收集了社会劣势和早期逆境的信息。我们发现，年龄较大的婴儿 AUC 水平较低；此外，具有正 CAR 的婴儿明显年龄较大。AUC 和 CAR 均与社会劣势和早期逆境的指标有关。与高收入家庭相比，低收入家庭的婴儿 AUC 水平更高，且 CAR 呈阳性。怀孕期间吸烟的母亲的婴儿也更有可能出现阳性 CAR。此外，经历育儿压力的母亲的婴儿 AUC 水平较高。我们的研究结果表明，社会劣势和早期逆境对昼夜皮质醇节律的影响在婴儿中已经可以观察到。这可能反映了早期负面生活事件对 HPA 轴早期成熟的影响。
