Stress In Mothers Research Articles

Prenatal stress alters sensitivity to benzodiazepines in adult rats

In rats, prenatal stress (PS) induces persistent changes in the brain that eventually can be translated in altered behavior leading to a greater consumption of psychostimulants in the offspring during adulthood. Though many studies have been carried on the effects of PS on stimulant drug responsiveness, little is known about susceptibility to benzodiazepines dependence in this animal model.We hereby examined the long-lasting impact of PS exposure during the last 10 days of pregnancy on the vulnerability to benzodiazepine addiction in adult rats. In addition, we also investigated the link between PS and the sensitivity to anxiolytics.Our results reveal that PS offspring exhibited a significantly greater preference to the diazepam-paired side than control offspring in the conditioned place preference. Importantly, we found that PS enhanced the anxiolytic effects of diazepam in the elevated plus maze paradigm.This work demonstrates that PS increased the abuse potential of benzodiazepines and the sensitivity to anxiolytic drugs in offspring of stressed mothers. Thus, investigating the interactions among addiction and PS may contribute to a better understanding how early life events modify neural circuitry and thereby behavior.

Is childhood stress associated with shorter telomeres?

It has been shown that severe stress in childhood is harmful to later health. New research aims to ascertain whether – and if so, how – the telomeres, the protective caps at the end of our chromosomes, may be one of the links between this type of experience and later morbidity. Here we present an overview of studies which have examined the association between stress in childhood and length of telomeres. The review encompasses 26 original studies found through a literature search in PubMed. We included studies of the relationship between length of telomeres and various stress-inducing factors from conception throughout childhood and adolescence. The studies were grouped into four topics. The empirical research base for mother's stress in pregnancy and parents' ability to care for their children is too small to draw any conclusions. Psychosocial stress in childhood was associated with shorter telomere length in 12 of 14 studies. Socioeconomic status in childhood was not unequivocally associated with telomere length. Shorter telomeres are possibly associated with psychosocial stress in childhood. This field of research is still new, and more longitudinal studies are needed with an emphasis on childhood experiences and coordination of measurement variables and results measurement in order to confirm this association.

Ancestral exposure to stress epigenetically programs preterm birth risk and adverse maternal and newborn outcomes.

BackgroundChronic stress is considered to be one of many causes of human preterm birth (PTB), but no direct evidence has yet been provided. Here we show in rats that stress across generations has downstream effects on endocrine, metabolic and behavioural manifestations of PTB possibly via microRNA (miRNA) regulation.MethodsPregnant dams of the parental generation were exposed to stress from gestational days 12 to 18. Their pregnant daughters (F1) and grand-daughters (F2) either were stressed or remained as non-stressed controls. Gestational length, maternal gestational weight gain, blood glucose and plasma corticosterone levels, litter size and offspring weight gain from postnatal days 1 to 30 were recorded in each generation, including F3. Maternal behaviours were analysed for the first hour after completed parturition, and offspring sensorimotor development was recorded on postnatal day (P) 7. F0 through F2 maternal brain frontal cortex, uterus and placenta miRNA and gene expression patterns were used to identify stress-induced epigenetic regulatory pathways of maternal behaviour and pregnancy maintenance.ResultsProgressively up to the F2 generation, stress gradually reduced gestational length, maternal weight gain and behavioural activity, and increased blood glucose levels. Reduced offspring growth and delayed behavioural development in the stress cohort was recognizable as early as P7, with the greatest effect in the F3 offspring of transgenerationally stressed mothers. Furthermore, stress altered miRNA expression patterns in the brain and uterus of F2 mothers, including the miR-200 family, which regulates pathways related to brain plasticity and parturition, respectively. Main miR-200 family target genes in the uterus, Stat5b, Zeb1 and Zeb2, were downregulated by multigenerational stress in the F1 generation. Zeb2 was also reduced in the stressed F2 generation, suggesting a causal mechanism for disturbed pregnancy maintenance. Additionally, stress increased placental miR-181a, a marker of human PTB.ConclusionsThe findings indicate that a family history of stress may program central and peripheral pathways regulating gestational length and maternal and newborn health outcomes in the maternal lineage. This new paradigm may model the origin of many human PTB causes.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12916-014-0121-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Modification of expression of neurohormones in hypothalamus of prenatally stressed male rats in model of posttraumatic stress disorder

By the method of quantitative immunohistochemistry there has been studied expression of corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) and vasopressin in hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of prenatally stressed rats in the experimental model of the posttraumatic stress disorder--the paradigm "stress-restress". The prenatal stress was modeled by immobilization of pregnant female rats for 1 h from the 15th to the 19th day of pregnancy. It has been shown that in sexually mature males--descendants of stressed mothers--a decrease in immunoreactivity to CRH and vasopressin is observed in the parvocellular and magnocellular PVN areas 10 days after the restress. In the control group males born by intact mothers the level of immunoreactivity to CRH was increased in both PVN areas, whereas with respect to vasopressin--in the magnocellular area. Only in the prenatally stressed males there is detected a decrease in the corticosterone level in the blood plasma 10 days after the restress. It is concluded that in the control group males themanifestation of the pathological state in the paradigm "stress-restress" consists in hyperactivation of the hypothalamic chain of regulation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical system, whereas in the prenatally stressed animals, on the contrary, there is observed a decrease in activity both of the central (PVN) and of the peripheral (adrenal cortex) chain of this hormonal axis.

Functional connectivity in prenatally stressed rats with and without maternal treatment with ladostigil, a brain-selective monoamine oxidase inhibitor.

Stress during pregnancy in humans is known to be a risk factor for neuropsychiatric disorders in the offspring. Prenatal stress in rats caused depressive-like behavior that was restored to that of controls by maternal treatment with ladostigil (8.5 mg/kg per day), a brain-selective monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitor that prevented increased anxiety-like behavior in stressed mothers. Ladostigil inhibited maternal striatal MAO-A and -B by 45-50% at the time the pups were weaned. Using resting state-functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging on rat male offspring of control mothers, and mothers stressed during gestation with and without ladostigil treatment, we identified neuronal connections that differed between these groups. The percentage of significant connections within a predefined predominantly limbic network in control rats was 23.3 within the right and 22.0 within the left hemisphere. Prenatal stress disturbed hemispheric symmetry, resulting in 30.2 and 21.6%, significant connections in the right and left hemispheres, respectively, but this was fully restored in the maternal ladostigil group to 24.6% in both hemispheres. All connections that were modified in prenatally stressed rats and restored by maternal drug treatment were associated with the dopaminergic system. Specifically, we observed that restoration of the connections of the right nucleus accumbens shell with frontal areas, the cingulate, septum and motor and sensory cortices, and those of the right globus pallidus with the infra-limbic and the dentate gyrus, were most important for prevention of depressive-like behavior.

Maternal stress during pregnancy increases neonatal allergy susceptibility: role of glucocorticoids.

We sought to test experimentally whether maternal stress can promote susceptibility to development of asthma-like allergic airways disease in offspring. Normal pregnant mice (day 15) were subjected to a single restraint stress exposure. We subsequently tested their offspring for the development of airway hyperreactivity (AHR) and allergic airway inflammation (AI), after an intentionally suboptimal sensitization protocol. The offspring of stressed mothers showed levels of AI and enhanced airway responses to methacholine comparable to those seen in fully sensitized and challenged positive control animals; in contrast, minimal effects were seen in control offspring. Restraint stress caused a rapid and large increase in plasma corticosterone levels. Maternal treatment with dexamethasone on day 15 of pregnancy mimicked the stress effect and reproduced the AI and AHR outcomes, whereas blockade of the stress-induced corticosterone surge with metyrapone pretreatment of pregnant mice abrogated the effect. We conclude that stress-triggered glucocorticoids during pregnancy can increase susceptibility to allergy in offspring. Because inflammation typically includes a stress hormone response, the results also suggest a common pathway by which various injurious exposures during pregnancy might increase offspring susceptibility to asthma.

Maternal employment during pregnancy and birth outcomes: evidence from Danish siblings.

I use Danish survey and administrative data to examine the impact of maternal employment during pregnancy on birth outcomes. As healthier mothers are more likely to work and health shocks to mothers may impact employment and birth outcomes, I combine two strategies: First, I control extensively for time-varying factors that may correlate with employment and birth outcomes, such as pre-pregnancy family income and maternal occupation, pregnancy-related health shocks, maternal sick listing, and health behaviors (smoking and alcohol consumption). Second, to account for remaining time-invariant heterogeneity between mothers, I compare outcomes of mothers' consecutive children. Mothers who work during the first pregnancy trimester have a lower risk of preterm birth. I find no effect on the probability of having a baby of small size for gestational age. To rule out that health selection of mothers between pregnancies drives the results, I focus on mothers whose change in employment status is likely not to be driven by underlying health (mothers who are students in one of their pregnancies and mothers with closely spaced births). Given generous welfare benefits and strict workplace regulations in Denmark, my findings support a residual explanation, namely, that exclusion from employment may stress mothers in countries with high-female employment rates.

The Effect of Spiritual Self-Care Training on Feeling of Comfort in Mothers of Hospitalized Preterm Infants

Background and Aim: The stress resulting from premature delivery and the related neonatal care induces psychological and physical pressure on the mothers, and adversely affects their feeling of comfort. It seems that spiritual care as a sort of communication with a higher power (God) can bring peace to the stressed mothers, and prevent anxiety. Therefore, this study was designed to evaluate the effects of spiritual self-care training on feeling of comfort in mothers of preterm infants, hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Methods: In this randomized clinical trial, 60 mothers of preterm infants hospitalized in NICU of Omolbanin and Ghaem hospitals, Mashhad, Iran in 2013, were selected, using convenience sampling, and were randomly assigned to intervention and control groups. In order to familiarize the mothers with their infants’ condition, the mothers in both intervention and control groups were informed and trained for 15 minutes every day, over a 14-day period. The intervention group, in addition to infant-related information, received spiritual self-care training for 45 minutes in 6 sessions, every other day. Before and after each session of self-care training, the mothers filled a self-structured questionnaire related to feeling of comfort resulting from spiritual care. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 16, by repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA), t-test, and Chi-square tests. Results: According to the results, the total mean of maternal feeling of comfort was 50.0 ± 4.3 and 55.6 ± 3.3 before and after the intervention, respectively. The results of t-test indicate that comfort significantly increased after the intervention (P=0.000). Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, spiritual self-care training increases the feeling of comfort in mothers with premature infants, hospitalized in NICU.

Mother knows best, even when stressed? Effects of maternal exposure to a stressor on offspring performance at different life stages in a wild semelparous fish

The environment mothers are exposed to has resonating effects on offspring performance. In iteroparous species, maternal exposure to stressors generally results in offspring ill-equipped for survival. Still, opportunities for future fecundity can offset low quality offspring. Little is known, however, as to how intergenerational effects of stress manifest in semelparous species with only a single breeding episode. Such mothers would suffer a total loss of fitness if offspring cannot survive past multiple life stages. We evaluated whether chronic exposure of female sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) to a chase stressor impaired offspring performance traits. Egg size and early offspring survival were not influenced by maternal exposure to the repeated acute stressor. Later in development, fry reared from stressed mothers swam for shorter periods of time but possessed a superior capacity to re-initiate bouts of burst swimming. In contrast to iteroparous species, the mechanisms driving the observed effects do not appear to be related to cortisol, as egg hormone concentrations did not vary between stressed and undisturbed mothers. Sockeye salmon appear to possess buffering strategies that protect offspring from deleterious effects of maternal stress that would otherwise compromise progeny during highly vulnerable stages of development. Whether stressed sockeye salmon mothers endow offspring with traits that are matched or mismatched for survival in the unpredictable environment they encountered is discussed. This study highlights the importance of examining intergenerational effects among species-specific reproductive strategies, and across offspring life history to fully determine the scope of impact of maternal stress.

LEPTIN RESISTANCE AS A CAUSE OF LACK OF EATING BEHAVIOR CHANGES IN HYPERLEPTINEMIA AND OBESITY IN FEMALE RATS — OFFSPRING OF GESTATIONAL STRESSED MOTHERS

In the experiment on Wistar rats was studied age dynamics of body weight in the postnatal period in the offspring of gestational stressed mothers, which was born with low weight and reduced levels of leptin in the blood plasma. It was shown that adult offspring of stressed mothers have increased body weight and visceral fat mass, increased levels of leptin in the blood compared to the offspring of intact mothers. However, by the number of food consumed offspring of stressed mothers did not differ from intact offspring. Long-term injection of exogenous leptin does not affect the eating behavior of offspring of stressed mothers, although inhibits the eating behavior the intact animals. It was concluded about availability of «economic type» energy metabolism and insulin resistance in the hypothalamic structures of offspring of gestational stressed mothers

EXCESSIVE CONSUMPTION OF FRUCTOSE AS THE CAUSE OF INCREASING OF PERINATALLY GENERATED LEPTIN RESISTANCE AND OBESITY AT A YOUNG AGE

n the experiment on the offspring of females Wistar rats stressed in the first trimester — puberty females which were born with reduced weight and low levels of leptin, was studied the development of obesity, eating behaviour, and leptin level after excessive consumption of fructose. By the injection of exogenous leptin and determination in these conditions the daily amount of food was found that fructose charge increases signs of leptin resistance inherent to offspring of gestational stressed mothers. It was concluded that strict controls needed to limit the amount of fructose, which may enter to the body of offspring from a risk group to prevent the development of obesity in their young.

Maternal stress, well-being, and impaired sleep in mothers of children with developmental disabilities: A literature review

Having children with developmental disabilities (DDs) requires a high level of caregiving responsibilities, and existing studies support that mothers of children with DDs experience high levels of maternal stress as well as poor sleep and well-being. Given the fact that the number of children with DDs has increased, an up-to-date literature review is necessary to identify factors associated with maternal stress, sleep, and well-being. In addition, understanding these factors and their relationships may provide better strategies in designing effective interventions that can reduce the burden in mothers of children with DDs. This review summarized 28 scientific research papers that examined maternal stress, sleep, and well-being in mothers of children with DDs in past 12 years. The study findings indicate that mothers of children with DDs experience higher levels of stress than mothers of typically developing children, and it remains high over time. In addition, these mothers often encounter depressive symptoms as well as poor sleep quality. The study results also reveal that there is a bidirectional relationship between maternal stress and depressive symptoms as well as between poor sleep quality and depressive symptoms. For example, higher stress mothers experienced more depressive symptoms. Mothers of children with DDs with poor sleep quality are significantly associated with more depressive symptoms. Child behavior problems were significantly associated with both maternal stress and depressive symptoms, but cautious interpretation is warranted due to the shared variance between child behavior problems, maternal stress, and depressive symptoms. Methodological guidelines for future research involve the use of reliable and valid instruments for the measurement of child behavior problems, maternal stress, and sleep. Recommendations for future research are included.

The Impact of a Parenting Skills Training Program on Stressed Mothers and their Children's Depression Level

In the present study, 250 elementary school children and their mothers participated. First, the mothers were screened using t he Parenting Stress Index (PSI). Based on the screening, 80 overstressed mothers were selected; ultimately, 3 8 mothers were assigned randomly into either the experimental group or the control group. The Parenting Skills Inventory and Depression Scal e for Children and Adolescents (SDD) were used prior to and following training to measure the impact of the parenting skills training program on the mothers and their children, whose average age was 10.6 years. The results revealed that the stress of mothers and depression level of children decreased significantly after 8 training sessions.

Parents’ adulthood stress induces behavioral and hormonal alterations in male rat offspring

Exposure to stress can influence hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in mammals and impair their behavioral/hormonal development. Stress during fetal or early life may have wide range effects on the offspring phenotype in rodents. Since the role of parents’ adulthood stress before mating is not fully understood yet, we investigated the effects of parents’ adulthood stress on behavioral and hormonal parameters in 10- and 30-day-old male offspring. To induce stress in the adult male and female rats, a repeated forced swimming paradigm was employed daily over the course of 21 days. Then, they were categorized into four parental breeding groups: stressed parents (SP), stressed mother (SM), stressed father (SF) and non-stressed parents (NSP). Anxiety-like behavior was tested in adult rats and 30-day-old male pups, using the elevated plus maze (EPM). The level of serum corticosterone was measured by ELISA in all groups. Stressed adult rats showed enhanced serum corticosterone concentration and anxiety-like behavior. Serum corticosterone level of the 10- and 30-day-old pups of the SP, SM and SF groups was significantly higher than pups from the non-stressed group. Furthermore, 30-day-old pups of the SP, SM and SF groups had lower time spent in the open arms compared to the control group, but stress had no significant effects on the percent of entries into the open arms. In addition, serum corticosterone level in 30-day-old pups were raised by a stressed mother was markedly more than 10-day-old pups. These findings revealed that parents’ adulthood stress have negative impacts on behavioral and hormonal responses of their male offspring.

Prenatal Stress Produces Social Behavior Deficits and Alters the Number of Oxytocin and Vasopressin Neurons in Adult Rats

The present study investigated the long-lasting effects of prenatal repeated restraint stress on social behavior and anxiety, as well as its repercussions on oxytocin (OT) and vasopressin (VP)-positive neurons of the paraventricular (PVN) and supraoptic (SON) nuclei from stressed pups in adulthood. Female Wistar rats were exposed to restraint stress in the last 7 days of pregnancy. At birth, pups were cross-fostered and assigned to the following groups: prenatally non-stressed offspring raised by prenatally non-stressed mothers (NS:NS), prenatally non-stressed offspring raised by prenatally stressed mothers (S:NS), prenatally stressed offspring raised by prenatally non-stressed mothers (NS:S), prenatally stressed offspring raised by prenatally stressed mothers (S:S). As adults, male prenatally stressed offspring raised both by stressed mothers (S:S group) and non-stressed ones (NS:S group) showed impaired social memory and interaction. In addition, when both adverse conditions coexisted (S:S group), increased anxiety-like behavior and aggressiveness was observed in association with a decrease in the number of OT-positive magnocellular neurons, VP-positive magnocellular and parvocellular neurons of the PVN. The NS:S group exhibited a reduction in the amount of VP-positive magnocellular neurons compared to the S:NS. Thus, the social behavior deficits observed in the S:S and NS:S groups may be only partially associated with these alterations to the peptidergic systems. No changes were shown in the OT and VP cellular composition of the SON nucleus. Nevertheless, it is clear that a special attention should be given to the gestational period, since stressful events during this time may be related to the emergence of behavioral impairments in adulthood.

Prenatal Stress Affects Network Properties of Rat Hippocampal Neurons

Long-term effects of stress during pregnancy on brain and behavior have been analyzed extensively in recent years. One major problem with these studies is the inability to separate between the net effects of the prenatal stress (PS) and the effects of the stressed mother and siblings on the newborn animals. To address these issues, we studied morphological and electrophysiological properties of neurons in dissociated cultures of the hippocampus taken from newborn PS rats. We complemented these studies with experiments on behaving rats and recordings from slices taken from PS rats and their control rats. While the density of cultured neurons was not different between PS and control rats, there were fewer glutamic acid decarboxylase-positive neurons in the former cultures. Additionally, cells taken from PS pups developed more extensive dendrites than control animals. These differences were correlated with a higher rate of synchronous activity in the PS cultures and a lower rate of spontaneous miniature inhibitory postsynaptic current activity. There were no differences in the excitatory synaptic currents or the passive and active properties of the recorded neurons in the two groups. Young PS rats were more motile in open field and elevated plus maze than control rats, and they learned faster to navigate in a water maze. Slices taken from hippocampus of PS rats expressed less paired-pulse inhibition than slices from control rats. These results indicate that PS affects network properties of hippocampal neurons, by reducing gamma-aminobutyric acidergic inhibition.

The influence that personal variables and acculturative stressof mothers in multicultural families have on their young children’s behavior

The influence that personal variables and acculturative stressof mothers in multicultural families have on their young children’s behavior

Prenatal Stress Induces Schizophrenia-Like Alterations of Serotonin 2A and Metabotropic Glutamate 2 Receptors in the Adult Offspring: Role of Maternal Immune System

It has been suggested that severe adverse life events during pregnancy increase the risk of schizophrenia in the offspring. The serotonin 5-HT(2A) and the metabotropic glutamate 2 (mGlu2) receptors both have been the target of considerable attention regarding schizophrenia and antipsychotic drug development. We tested the effects of maternal variable stress during pregnancy on expression and behavioral function of these two receptors in mice. Prenatal stress increased 5-HT(2A) and decreased mGlu2 expression in frontal cortex, a brain region involved in perception, cognition, and mood. This pattern of expression of 5-HT(2A) and mGlu2 receptors was consistent with behavioral alterations, including increased head-twitch response to the hallucinogenic 5-HT(2A) agonist DOI [1-(2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodophenyl)-2-aminopropane] and decreased mGlu2-dependent antipsychotic-like effect of the mGlu2/3 agonist LY379268 (1R,4R,5S,6R-2-oxa-4-aminobicyclo[3.1.0]hexane-4,6-dicarboxylate) in adult, but not prepubertal, mice born to stressed mothers during pregnancy. Cross-fostering studies determined that these alterations were not attributable to effects of prenatal stress on maternal care. Additionally, a similar pattern of biochemical and behavioral changes were observed in mice born to mothers injected with polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid [poly(I:C)] during pregnancy as a model of prenatal immune activation. These data strengthen pathophysiological hypotheses that propose an early neurodevelopmental origin for schizophrenia and other psychiatric disorders.

Effects of chronic stress during pregnancy on maternal performance in the guinea pig (Cavia aperea f. porcellus)

Stress experienced during pregnancy can have persistent impact on the female's physiology and behaviour not only during but even beyond pregnancy. The present study aimed to evaluate such long-term effects of stress in terms of repeated strobe light exposure during early to mid gestation on behavioural aspects of mothering activities and lactational effort in lactating guinea pigs. We found that maternal behaviour was negatively affected by stress experience during pregnancy with treatment females developing a higher level of offspring-directed aggression than controls. In addition, our measure of lactational performances showed tendencies of lowered milk supply and longer pup suckling durations in stressed females. We suggest that this may represent a strategy to advance infant weaning following demanding conditions caused by chronic stress experience during pregnancy.

LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF MOTHERS STRESS IN THE FIRST THIRD OF PREGNANCY ON THE STRUCTURAL AND FUNCTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF PANCREAS IN ADULT OFFSPRINGS

A comparative study of the levels of corticosterone, histostructure insulin-produced and function of pancreatic islets in adult male rats — offsprings of intact and gestational-stressed mothers in the basal state and after hypokinesia was conducted. Found that in a state of physiological rest concentration of insulin in the offspring of stressed mothers higher than in intact rats. For this group of animals is characterized disproportionate increase in insulin levels increased towards to concentrations of glucocorticoids that regarded as instability of adaptation. By histological studies of pancreatic islets shown the increasing number of islets in the offspring of stressed-mothers while reducing their size. Stress of hypokinesia leads to active formation of new islets and increased insulin levels in the blood plasma stressed offsprings. “Structural and functional consequence” of gestational maternal stress on level of pancreatic islets offsprings considered as a predisposition for the development of the metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes.