Perceived maternal stress during pregnancy affects newborn development in a low-income cohort of pregnant women

GONZÁLEZ, MA. AURELIA; REY PATRICIA; BINDA MA. VICTORIA; SUSACASA SANDRA; BROCCO MARCELA ADRIANA; RUMI, MERCEDES; PETZIL ERNESTINA; FABRE BIBIANA; FRASCH, MARTIN G.; PUPELIS LILIANA; BERG GABRIELA; ANTONELLI, MARTA C

Conferencia; International Federation of Placenta Associations 2019 (IFPA2019); 2019

Perceived maternal stress during pregnancyaffects newborn development in a low-income cohort of pregnant women.Marcela A. Brocco1, María AureliaGonzález2, Martin G. Frasch3, Mercedes Rumi4,Patricia Rey2, Liliana Pupelis2, Ernestina Petzil2,María Victoria Binda2, Gabriela Berg5, Bibiana Fabre5,Sandra Susacasa2, Marta C. Antonelli41Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas(IIB-UNSAM-CONICET),, Buenos Aires, Argentina. 2Hospital Materno Infantil Ramón Sarda (HMIRS), BuenosAires, Argentina. 3Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. University ofWashington, Seattle, USA. 4Instituto de Biología Celular yNeurociencia Prof. Dr. E. De Robertis. Facultad de Medicina. UBA, Buenos Aires,Argentina. 5Facultad de de Farmacia y Bioquímica-UBA, Buenos Aires,Argentina  ObjectivesOur main objective is to test the feasibility ofusing a biomarker panel to detect prenatal stress (PS) induced epigeneticreprogramming of the infant brain affecting neurocognitive development.  MethodsProspective case-control study matched formaternal age, parity and gestational age from 28 weeks to term was carried outat the Hospital MaternoInfantil Ramón Sarda (HMIRS) (CEI Protocol09/2015). Using the Cohen Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) questionnaire, pregnantwomen with PSS-10 ≥ 19 were classified as stress group (SG) anda PSS-10 < 19 as control group (CG). Upon delivery, newborn saliva samplesand maternal hair were collected. One month after birth, children wereevaluated with Bayley Scale of Infant Development (BSID) and the mothers withthe Edinburgh Post-partum Depression Scale (EPDS). A new saliva sample wasobtained. ResultsA previous pilotstudy showed 26% of stressed pregnant women, in agreement with the literature.In this study, 51 questionnaires were administered but 34/51 patients (66.7 %)did not meet the eligibility criteria upon delivery. 12 women with a PSS< 19 (CG) and 8 with PSS ≥ 19 (SG) were finally recruited.According to the Graffar scale, most participants from both groups wereclassified as stratum IV (low-income). No differences were found in maternalBMI (Body Mass Index) nor in newborn weight at birth. Maternal hair cortisolwas 192.0 for CG (49.0-295.0) versus 237.7 for SG (61.0-474.0) pg/mg (p=0.44).In the SG group, maternal age was lower than in CG (p < 0.05). Mothersfrom the SG group showed higher EPDS scores than CG (p < 0.01). Notably,among babies born from stressed mothers, BSID Motor scale showed a significantreduction (p < 0.01).  ConclusionMaternal perceived stress during pregnancycorrelated with one-month old babies impaired motor development. Thispreliminary study suggests a direct transgenerational transmission of PSonto offspring development.