Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Center for Human Growth and Development, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Pediatr Res. 2021 Apr;89(5):1310-1315. doi: 10.1038/s41390-020-0989-0. Epub 2020 Jun 3.
Psychosocial stress in early childhood is associated with adult obesity and cardiometabolic disease. The association of psychosocial stress with the metabolome in childhood is unknown.
Low-income children (n = 28, mean age 1.8 years), recruited from the community, participated. Psychosocial stress was measured by diurnal salivary cortisol (cortisol intercept and slope) and by mother-reported chaos in the home using the Confusion, Hubbub, and Order Scale (CHAOS). At mean age 6.1 years, anthropometry was collected and fasting metabolites measured using an untargeted metabolomics and shotgun lipidomics platform.
Cortisol slope was inversely associated with fatty acid (FA) 20:3, FA 20:4 and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) metabolites. A higher CHAOS score was associated with lower very long-chain PUFA metabolites and a trend towards lower long-chain PUFA containing triglycerides.
Psychosocial stress in early childhood, measured with both biological markers and parent report, was associated with lower PUFAs later in childhood. Future work should examine potential mechanisms of association, including dietary intake or direct effects on polyunsaturated fatty acid levels or metabolism.
In this longitudinal study, the key message is that diurnal cortisol patterns and greater parent-reported psychosocial stress exposure in early childhood are associated with lower plasma polyunsaturated fatty acid containing lipids 5 years later, potentially indicating altered dietary intake or metabolism associated with psychosocial stress. Untargeted metabolomics and lipidomics can be used to assess changes in metabolism response to psychosocial stress. Stress exposure in early childhood may be associated with the future metabolome. Future work should examine potential pathways of association, including dietary intake and direct effects on metabolism.
儿童早期的心理社会压力与成人肥胖和心血管代谢疾病有关。心理社会压力与儿童代谢组学的关系尚不清楚。
从社区招募了 28 名低收入儿童（平均年龄 1.8 岁）参与研究。通过日间唾液皮质醇（皮质醇截距和斜率）和母亲使用混乱、喧嚣和秩序量表（CHAOS）报告家庭中的混乱来测量心理社会压力。在平均年龄 6.1 岁时，采集人体测量学数据，并使用非靶向代谢组学和鸟枪法脂质组学平台测量空腹代谢物。
皮质醇斜率与脂肪酸（FA）20:3、FA 20:4 和多不饱和脂肪酸（PUFA）代谢物呈负相关。CHAOS 评分较高与非常长链 PUFA 代谢物较低和长链含长链 PUFA 甘油三酯较低有关。
儿童早期的心理社会压力，无论是通过生物标志物还是父母报告来衡量，都与儿童后期的多不饱和脂肪酸水平较低有关。未来的工作应该检查潜在的关联机制，包括饮食摄入或对多不饱和脂肪酸水平或代谢的直接影响。
在这项纵向研究中，主要信息是，儿童早期的昼夜皮质醇模式和更大的父母报告的心理社会压力暴露与 5 年后血浆多不饱和脂肪酸含量较低有关，这可能表明与心理社会压力相关的饮食摄入或代谢改变。非靶向代谢组学和脂质组学可用于评估代谢对心理社会压力的反应变化。儿童早期的压力暴露可能与未来的代谢组学有关。未来的工作应该检查潜在的关联途径，包括饮食摄入和对代谢的直接影响。
