Douglas Hospital Research Center, Montreal, QC, Canada.
Am J Phys Anthropol. 2012 Oct;149(2):307-11. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.22117. Epub 2012 Jul 24.
Stress during the prenatal and early postnatal periods (perinatal stress, PS) is known to impact offspring cognitive, behavioral, and physical development, but effects on skeletal growth are not clear. Our objective was to analyze effects of variable, mild, daily PS exposure on adult offspring long bone length. Twelve pregnant rat dams were randomly assigned to receive variable stress from gestational days 14-21 (Prenatal group), postpartum days 2-9 (Postnatal), both periods (Pre-Post), or no stress (Control). Differences in adult offspring tibia and femur length were analyzed among treatment groups. Mean tibia length differed among groups for males (P = 0.016) and females (P = 0.009), and differences for femur length approached significance for males (P = 0.051). Long bone length was shorter among PS-exposed offspring, especially those exposed to postnatal stress (Postnatal and Pre-Post groups). Results persisted when controlling for nose-tail length. These differences might reflect early stunting that is maintained in adulthood, or delayed growth among PS-exposed offspring. This study suggests that PS results in shorter long bones in adulthood, independently of effects on overall body size. Stunting and growth retardation are major global health burdens. Our study adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that PS is a risk factor for poor linear growth.
围产期压力（产前和产后早期的压力，PS）已知会影响后代的认知、行为和身体发育，但对骨骼生长的影响尚不清楚。我们的目的是分析可变的、轻度的、日常 PS 暴露对成年后代长骨长度的影响。12 只怀孕的大鼠母鼠被随机分配接受从妊娠第 14-21 天（产前组）、产后第 2-9 天（产后组）、两个时期（预-后组）或无压力（对照组）的可变压力。分析处理组之间成年后代胫骨和股骨长度的差异。雄性（P = 0.016）和雌性（P = 0.009）的胫骨长度在组间存在差异，雄性的股骨长度差异接近显著（P = 0.051）。PS 暴露后代的长骨长度较短，尤其是那些暴露于产后压力的后代（产后组和预-后组）。当控制鼻尾长度时，结果仍然存在。这些差异可能反映了早期的生长迟缓，这种迟缓在成年期持续存在，或者是 PS 暴露后代的生长延迟。这项研究表明，PS 导致成年后长骨较短，而与整体身体大小无关。生长迟缓是全球主要的健康负担之一。我们的研究增加了越来越多的证据，表明 PS 是线性生长不良的一个风险因素。
