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Body size at birth predicts hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis response to psychosocial stress at age 60 to 70 years

Body size at birth predicts hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis response to psychosocial stress at age 60 to 70 years
Body size at birth predicts hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis response to psychosocial stress at age 60 to 70 years
Background: Studies in humans and animals have suggested intrauterine programming of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPAA) function as an important mechanism in linking fetal life conditions with adult disease.
Objective: Our aim was to assess how body size at birth, a marker of intrauterine conditions, is associated with hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis response to psychosocial stress in late adulthood.
Design and Setting: We conducted a clinical study in the Helsinki Birth Cohort. Participants: Two hundred eighty-seven men and women born between 1934 and 1944 whose birth measurements and gestational age came from hospital records participated in the study.
Measurements: We measured salivary cortisol and, for 215 individuals, plasma cortisol and ACTH concentrations in conjunction with a standardized psychosocial stressor (Trier Social Stress Test).
Results: There was a linear relationship between low birth weight and low plasma ACTH but no linear relationship with cortisol. There were, however, quadratic relationships between birth weight and salivary (mixed model P = 0.001) and plasma cortisol (P = 0.005) but not with plasma ACTH (P = 0.1). The lowest peak salivary cortisol concentrations were seen in the lowest third of birth weights (adjusted for gestational age and sex): 12.9 nmol/liter (95% confidence interval of mean 11.2-15.0), compared with 17.1 nmol/liter (14.8-19.8) in the middle and 14.1 nmol/liter (12.6-15.7) in the highest third of birth weights. Corresponding figures for plasma cortisol were 418 nmol/liter (380-459), 498 nmol/liter (455-545), and 454 nmol/liter (428-482), and for plasma ACTH 8.17 pmol/liter (6.98-9.57), 12.42 pmol/liter (10.64-14.51), and 11.50 (10.06-13.14), respectively. Results for areas under the curve were similar.
Conclusions: We found an inverse U-shaped relationship between birth weight and cortisol concentrations during psychosocial stress. The lowest cortisol and ACTH concentrations were seen in subjects with the lowest birth weights. These results support the hypothesis that both hyper- and hypocortisolism may be programmed during the fetal period.
plasma, birth weight, body size, public health, stress, cortisol, birth, weight, health, fetal, disease, humans, cohort, adult, function, animals, chronic disease, hypothesis, birth-weight, women, size, cardiovascular disease, Finland, gestational age, human
4094-4100
Kajantie, Eero
d68d55b6-6df1-4195-a914-44c738a6db93
Feldt, Kimmo
cb8c28a8-50b7-4d3e-a85f-22a81216aefc
Raikkonen, Katri
7f44cbef-84f3-4d77-9ccc-f026ce537dd8
Phillips, David I.
29b73be7-2ff9-4fff-ae42-d59842df4cc6
Osmond, Clive
2677bf85-494f-4a78-adf8-580e1b8acb81
Heinonen, Kati
46bb57d0-1c33-4cdd-badf-d38a5fc61200
Pesonen, Anu K.
65b99d98-7159-4ed1-b2a3-74e58e6e817f
Andersson, Sture
31b08a06-75c5-4aa5-b879-3cb270abe81f
Barker, David J.
1c926291-c5bd-4f53-8827-6ae435fa97ea
Eriksson, Johan G.
eb96b1c5-af07-4a52-8a73-7541451d32cd
Kajantie, Eero
d68d55b6-6df1-4195-a914-44c738a6db93
Feldt, Kimmo
cb8c28a8-50b7-4d3e-a85f-22a81216aefc
Raikkonen, Katri
7f44cbef-84f3-4d77-9ccc-f026ce537dd8
Phillips, David I.
29b73be7-2ff9-4fff-ae42-d59842df4cc6
Osmond, Clive
2677bf85-494f-4a78-adf8-580e1b8acb81
Heinonen, Kati
46bb57d0-1c33-4cdd-badf-d38a5fc61200
Pesonen, Anu K.
65b99d98-7159-4ed1-b2a3-74e58e6e817f
Andersson, Sture
31b08a06-75c5-4aa5-b879-3cb270abe81f
Barker, David J.
1c926291-c5bd-4f53-8827-6ae435fa97ea
Eriksson, Johan G.
eb96b1c5-af07-4a52-8a73-7541451d32cd

Kajantie, Eero, Feldt, Kimmo, Raikkonen, Katri, Phillips, David I., Osmond, Clive, Heinonen, Kati, Pesonen, Anu K., Andersson, Sture, Barker, David J. and Eriksson, Johan G. (2007) Body size at birth predicts hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis response to psychosocial stress at age 60 to 70 years. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 92 (11), 4094-4100. (doi:10.1210/jc.2007-1539).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Background: Studies in humans and animals have suggested intrauterine programming of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPAA) function as an important mechanism in linking fetal life conditions with adult disease.
Objective: Our aim was to assess how body size at birth, a marker of intrauterine conditions, is associated with hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis response to psychosocial stress in late adulthood.
Design and Setting: We conducted a clinical study in the Helsinki Birth Cohort. Participants: Two hundred eighty-seven men and women born between 1934 and 1944 whose birth measurements and gestational age came from hospital records participated in the study.
Measurements: We measured salivary cortisol and, for 215 individuals, plasma cortisol and ACTH concentrations in conjunction with a standardized psychosocial stressor (Trier Social Stress Test).
Results: There was a linear relationship between low birth weight and low plasma ACTH but no linear relationship with cortisol. There were, however, quadratic relationships between birth weight and salivary (mixed model P = 0.001) and plasma cortisol (P = 0.005) but not with plasma ACTH (P = 0.1). The lowest peak salivary cortisol concentrations were seen in the lowest third of birth weights (adjusted for gestational age and sex): 12.9 nmol/liter (95% confidence interval of mean 11.2-15.0), compared with 17.1 nmol/liter (14.8-19.8) in the middle and 14.1 nmol/liter (12.6-15.7) in the highest third of birth weights. Corresponding figures for plasma cortisol were 418 nmol/liter (380-459), 498 nmol/liter (455-545), and 454 nmol/liter (428-482), and for plasma ACTH 8.17 pmol/liter (6.98-9.57), 12.42 pmol/liter (10.64-14.51), and 11.50 (10.06-13.14), respectively. Results for areas under the curve were similar.
Conclusions: We found an inverse U-shaped relationship between birth weight and cortisol concentrations during psychosocial stress. The lowest cortisol and ACTH concentrations were seen in subjects with the lowest birth weights. These results support the hypothesis that both hyper- and hypocortisolism may be programmed during the fetal period.

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More information

Published date: 2007
Keywords: plasma, birth weight, body size, public health, stress, cortisol, birth, weight, health, fetal, disease, humans, cohort, adult, function, animals, chronic disease, hypothesis, birth-weight, women, size, cardiovascular disease, Finland, gestational age, human

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 61263
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/61263
PURE UUID: 8df4bc9c-2d43-4869-b3bb-80a99c993be3
ORCID for Clive Osmond: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-9054-4655

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 12 Sep 2008
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 02:50

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Contributors

Author: Eero Kajantie
Author: Kimmo Feldt
Author: Katri Raikkonen
Author: David I. Phillips
Author: Clive Osmond ORCID iD
Author: Kati Heinonen
Author: Anu K. Pesonen
Author: Sture Andersson
Author: David J. Barker
Author: Johan G. Eriksson

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