Rendina Danielle N, Lubach Gabriele R, Coe Christopher L
Harlow Center for Biological Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis., USA.
Neonatology. 2016;109(4):314-20. doi: 10.1159/000443717. Epub 2016 Feb 24.
Maternal stress during pregnancy can have deleterious consequences, increasing risk for prematurity and low birth weight, as well as postnatal effects on emotional regulation and neuromotor development. It is less clear, however, whether moderate and brief gestational disturbances have similar effects.
To determine the impact of a delimited period of moderate maternal stress on infant growth, emotional reactivity, and neurobehavioral maturity in a nonhuman primate model.
Eighty-three infant rhesus monkeys were generated from disturbed pregnancies, either early or late gestation, and compared with 51 undisturbed infants. Maternal stress was induced with an acoustical startle protocol for 25% of gestation. Infant weights, anthropometrics, and neurobehavioral data were obtained. Analyses focused on differential effects of prenatal stress on male and female infants.
The disturbance manipulation elevated cortisol levels acutely in the gravid females and they gained less weight by term. Nevertheless, female infants from the early stress condition were significantly larger at birth. This differential growth trajectory was then sustained through 6 months of age. Infants from stress conditions were more emotionally reactive and evinced immature neuromotor reflexes, especially when gestated by late stress mothers.
Even moderate maternal disturbance impacted infant temperament and neuromotor development in this nonhuman primate model. Effects on fetal and infant growth differed from typical reports of growth inhibition, both in other animal species and human studies. The findings convey the importance of considering the duration and severity of prenatal insults, and the potential for fetal plasticity and recovery, permitting compensatory growth responses.
孕期母亲压力会产生有害后果，增加早产和低出生体重风险，以及对情绪调节和神经运动发育的产后影响。然而，尚不清楚适度且短暂的孕期干扰是否有类似影响。
在非人灵长类动物模型中，确定一段限定时期的适度母亲压力对婴儿生长、情绪反应和神经行为成熟度的影响。
83只恒河猴幼崽来自孕期受干扰的母猴，孕期干扰发生在妊娠早期或晚期，将其与51只未受干扰的幼崽进行比较。在25%的妊娠期内，通过听觉惊吓方案诱导母猴产生压力。获取幼崽体重、人体测量数据和神经行为数据。分析聚焦于产前压力对雄性和雌性幼崽的不同影响。
干扰操作使妊娠母猴的皮质醇水平急性升高，且足月时体重增加较少。然而，早期应激条件下的雌性幼崽出生时明显更大。这种不同的生长轨迹一直持续到6个月大。应激条件下的幼崽情绪反应更强，神经运动反射不成熟，尤其是由晚期应激母猴孕育的幼崽。
在这个非人灵长类动物模型中，即使是适度的母亲干扰也会影响婴儿气质和神经运动发育。对胎儿和婴儿生长的影响与其他动物物种和人类研究中典型的生长抑制报告不同。研究结果表明，考虑产前损伤的持续时间和严重程度以及胎儿可塑性和恢复的可能性，允许代偿性生长反应非常重要。
