Lamb Yvette N, Thompson John M D, Murphy Rinki, Wall Clare, Kirk Ian J, Morgan Angharad R, Ferguson Lynnette R, Mitchell Edwin A, Waldie Karen E
School of Psychology, The University of Auckland, New Zealand.
Department of Paediatrics, The University of Auckland, New Zealand.
Cognition. 2014 Sep;132(3):461-70. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2014.05.009. Epub 2014 Jun 20.
Maternal stress during pregnancy has been associated with a range of adverse outcomes in offspring and the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene has been linked to differential susceptibility to the consequences of antenatal stress. This study examined two functional polymorphisms of the COMT gene (rs4680 and rs165599) in relation to maternal perceived stress and childhood cognitive performance. Data from the longitudinal Auckland Birthweight Collaborative (ABC) study was used. Maternal perceived stress over the prior month was measured at birth, 3.5 and 7years. Full-Scale IQ (FSIQ) was measured at ages 7 and 11. At age 11, a total of 546 DNA samples were collected from the child participants. Data were subjected to a series of split-plot ANCOVAs with birthweight for gestational age and maternal school leaving age as covariates. There were direct effects of maternal stress during the last month of pregnancy on offspring FSIQ at ages 7 and 11years. A significant interaction revealed that children exposed to high maternal antenatal stress had significantly lower FSIQ scores at both 7 and 11years of age than those exposed to low stress, only when they were carriers of the rs165599 G allele. At each age, this difference was of approximately 5 IQ points. The G allele of the rs165599 polymorphism may confer genetic susceptibility to negative cognitive outcomes arising from exposure to antenatal stress. This finding highlights the need to consider gene-environment interactions when investigating the outcomes of antenatal stress exposure.
孕期母亲压力与后代一系列不良后果有关，儿茶酚-O-甲基转移酶（COMT）基因与产前压力后果的易感性差异有关。本研究调查了COMT基因的两个功能多态性（rs4680和rs165599）与母亲感知压力和儿童认知表现的关系。使用了奥克兰出生体重纵向合作研究（ABC）的数据。在出生时、3.5岁和7岁时测量母亲前一个月的感知压力。在7岁和11岁时测量全量表智商（FSIQ）。在11岁时，从儿童参与者中总共收集了546份DNA样本。数据进行了一系列裂区协方差分析，以胎龄出生体重和母亲离校年龄作为协变量。孕期最后一个月母亲压力对7岁和11岁后代FSIQ有直接影响。显著的交互作用表明，暴露于高产前压力的儿童在7岁和11岁时的FSIQ得分显著低于暴露于低压力的儿童，仅当他们是rs165599 G等位基因携带者时。在每个年龄，这种差异约为5个智商点。rs165599多态性的G等位基因可能使个体对产前压力暴露导致的负面认知结果具有遗传易感性。这一发现凸显了在调查产前压力暴露的后果时考虑基因-环境相互作用的必要性。
