FELICITy Study: In search of non-invasive biomarkers of prenatal stress

RITIKA SHARMA; JENNIFER KRIEBEL; LOBMAIER, SILVIA M.; PETER ZIMMERMANN; FRASCH, MARTIN G.; CAMILA ZELGERT; MELANIE WALDENBERGER; ANTONELLI MARTA CRISTINA

Conferencia; VIII Epigenomics of Common Diseases Conference; 2019

Maternal stress during pregnancy can program the infant?s lifelong trajectory and physiological stress response systems, such as the autonomic nervous system (ANS). An important mediating mechanism of such prenatal stress (PS) is epigenetic reprogramming. We hypothesize that the stress-induced alterations in the autonomic stress response system can be gauged by the maternal and infant molecular and epigenetic biomarkers. We aim to develop a biomarker panel from the salivary DNA as an early non-invasive measure of PS in the exposed infants. We conducted a prospective study in stressed mothers, with controls matched 1:1 for parity, maternal age and gestational age during screening at third trimester. Using the Cohen perceived stress scale (PSS) questionnaire PSS-10 ≥ 19, expectant mothers were classified into stressed group (SG); pregnant women with PSS-10 < 19 served as control group (CG). In the preliminary stage, 1500 pregnant women were screened, out of which 538 were enrolled. 16.5% showed a PS-10 score ≥ 19 at 34 weeks. 55 women were enrolled in each group. On the day of delivery, maternal blood and maternal hair, strands from the posterior vertex region on the head were collected for cortisol measurements. Cord blood and saliva/buccal samples from the newborns were also taken. Median of PSS of the SG was 22.0 (1st ? 3rd quartile: 21.0 ? 24.0) higher than that of the control group 9.0 (6.0 ? 12.0) (p