Prenatal undernutrition and autonomic function in adulthood
Prenatal undernutrition and autonomic function in adulthood
Objectives: Early-life adversity has been shown to be associated with cardiovascular disease and mortality in later life, but little is known about the mechanisms that underlie this association. Prenatal undernutrition, a severe early-life stressor, is associated with double the risk of coronary heart disease and increased blood pressure responses to psychological stress. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that prenatal undernutrition induces alterations in the autonomic nervous system, which may increase the risk of developing heart disease.
Methods: We studied autonomic function in 740 men and women (mean [SD] age, 58 [0.9] years) who were members of the Dutch famine birth cohort. We compared those exposed to famine during early (n = 64), mid (n = 107), or late gestation (n = 127) to those unexposed to famine in utero (n = 442). Participants underwent a series of 3 psychological stressors (Stroop, mirror tracing, and speech) while their blood pressure and heart rate were recorded continuously.
Results: Data had sufficient quality in 602 participants for derivation of autonomic function indices by spectral analysis. The stress protocol led to significant sample-level changes in systolic blood pressure, heart rate, and all cardiovascular control measures (all p values < .001). None of the autonomic function parameters, at rest or in response to stress, differed significantly (all p values > .050) according to prenatal famine exposure.
Conclusions: Prenatal undernutrition was not associated with autonomic function in late adulthood. We conclude that altered autonomic function does not seem to explain our previous findings of increased coronary heart disease risk among those exposed to famine prenatally.
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de Rooij, S.R.
57573889-bde7-43cf-852c-753114f99852
Jones, A.
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Phillips, D.
29b73be7-2ff9-4fff-ae42-d59842df4cc6
Osmond, C.
2677bf85-494f-4a78-adf8-580e1b8acb81
Karemaker, J.M.
836c41ad-5fb2-47d6-a4c7-89c4e79b7be1
Roseboom, T.J.
9f4c3a8a-3fb2-4c59-a539-7a7cc22d175b
Painter, R.C.
f223b3d4-6dc9-4e17-8e32-0bc6d104111c
de Rooij, S.R.
57573889-bde7-43cf-852c-753114f99852
Jones, A.
bcae84a4-4191-4a3e-b695-1b6e2b0681c7
Phillips, D.
29b73be7-2ff9-4fff-ae42-d59842df4cc6
Osmond, C.
2677bf85-494f-4a78-adf8-580e1b8acb81
Karemaker, J.M.
836c41ad-5fb2-47d6-a4c7-89c4e79b7be1
Roseboom, T.J.
9f4c3a8a-3fb2-4c59-a539-7a7cc22d175b
Painter, R.C.
f223b3d4-6dc9-4e17-8e32-0bc6d104111c
de Rooij, S.R., Jones, A., Phillips, D., Osmond, C., Karemaker, J.M., Roseboom, T.J. and Painter, R.C.
(2016)
Prenatal undernutrition and autonomic function in adulthood.
Psychosomatic Medicine, .
(doi:10.1097/PSY.0000000000000393).
(PMID:27606796)
Abstract
Objectives: Early-life adversity has been shown to be associated with cardiovascular disease and mortality in later life, but little is known about the mechanisms that underlie this association. Prenatal undernutrition, a severe early-life stressor, is associated with double the risk of coronary heart disease and increased blood pressure responses to psychological stress. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that prenatal undernutrition induces alterations in the autonomic nervous system, which may increase the risk of developing heart disease.
Methods: We studied autonomic function in 740 men and women (mean [SD] age, 58 [0.9] years) who were members of the Dutch famine birth cohort. We compared those exposed to famine during early (n = 64), mid (n = 107), or late gestation (n = 127) to those unexposed to famine in utero (n = 442). Participants underwent a series of 3 psychological stressors (Stroop, mirror tracing, and speech) while their blood pressure and heart rate were recorded continuously.
Results: Data had sufficient quality in 602 participants for derivation of autonomic function indices by spectral analysis. The stress protocol led to significant sample-level changes in systolic blood pressure, heart rate, and all cardiovascular control measures (all p values < .001). None of the autonomic function parameters, at rest or in response to stress, differed significantly (all p values > .050) according to prenatal famine exposure.
Conclusions: Prenatal undernutrition was not associated with autonomic function in late adulthood. We conclude that altered autonomic function does not seem to explain our previous findings of increased coronary heart disease risk among those exposed to famine prenatally.
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Manuscript de Rooij et al.docx
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Accepted/In Press date: 12 July 2016
e-pub ahead of print date: 7 September 2016
Organisations:
Faculty of Medicine
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Local EPrints ID: 400441
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/400441
ISSN: 0033-3174
PURE UUID: bfa3048e-2f05-4cdd-9f2e-0f24253b9dd6
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Date deposited: 14 Sep 2016 15:53
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 05:53
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Contributors
Author:
S.R. de Rooij
Author:
A. Jones
Author:
D. Phillips
Author:
J.M. Karemaker
Author:
T.J. Roseboom
Author:
R.C. Painter
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