Fetal and Maternal early non-invasive biomarkers of chronic maternal stress during pregnancy predict cholinergic stress levels at birth

CAMILA ZELGERT; SCHMIDT, G.; BIBIANA FABRE; HERMONA SOREQ; SHANI VAKNINE; JOY WEYRICH; BERHARD HALLER; HAUTIENG WU; FRASCH, MARTIN G.; SILVIA LOBMAIER; ALEXANDER MUELLER; BERG, G.; ANTONELLI, MARTA C.

Congreso; XXIII Annual Conference of the Israel Society of Biological Psychiatry; 2019

Stress during pregnancy affects infants´ cognitiveand emotional development as well as physical health, but the subsequent impact is difficult to predict early. Assessing those effects as fast as possible following birth may lead to a more effective way to provide support for the stress-affected newborns, for example via enriched environment. Cholinergic signaling is a major determinant of cognition and is subject to regulation by stressful conditions, and activity levels of the circulatingacetyl- and butyrylcholinesterases (AChE, BChE)reflect the global cholinergic toneand chronic stress exposure in adults. To assess chronic maternal stress during pregnancy and its effects on the newborn, we non-invasively measured several maternal and fetal molecular and biophysical biomarkers. Specifically, in early third trimester, we administered the Cohen Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) questionnaire classifying women with PSS