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Coté JJ, Coté RD, Dilsaver DB, Stessman HAF, Watson C, Handelzalts J, Doehrman P, Walters RW, Badura-Brack AS. Human placental lactogen (human chorionic somatomammotropin) and oxytocin during pregnancy: Individual patterns and associations with maternal-fetal attachment, anxiety, and depression. Horm Behav 2024; 163:105560. [PMID: 38723407 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2024.105560] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2023] [Revised: 02/29/2024] [Accepted: 05/01/2024] [Indexed: 06/17/2024]
Abstract
Previous studies support links among maternal-fetal attachment, psychological symptoms, and hormones during pregnancy and the post-partum period. Other studies connect maternal feelings and behaviors to oxytocin and suggest that an increase in oxytocin during pregnancy may prime maternal-fetal attachment. To date, researchers have not examined a possible association between maternal-fetal attachment with human placental lactogen although animal models are suggestive. In the current study, we sought to describe oxytocin and human placental lactogen levels as related to psychological constructs across pregnancy. Seventy women participated in the study. At each of three time-points (early, mid, and late pregnancy), the women had their blood drawn to assess oxytocin and human placental lactogen levels, and they completed psychological assessments measuring maternal-fetal attachment, anxiety, and depression. Our results indicate that oxytocin levels were statistically similar across pregnancy, but that human placental lactogen significantly increased across pregnancy. Results did not indicate significant associations of within-person (comparing individuals to themselves) oxytocin or human placental lactogen levels with maternal-fetal attachment. Additionally, results did not show between-person (comparing individuals to other individuals) oxytocin or human placental lactogen levels with maternal-fetal attachment. Oxytocin levels were not associated with anxiety; rather the stage of pregnancy moderated the effect of the within-person OT level on depression. Notably, increasing levels of human placental lactogen were significantly associated with increasing levels of both anxiety and depression in between subject analyses. The current study is important because it describes typical hormonal and maternal fetal attachment levels during each stage of pregnancy, and because it suggests an association between human placental lactogen and psychological symptoms during pregnancy. Future research should further elucidate these relationships.
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Affiliation(s)
- John J Coté
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Creighton University School of Medicine, Omaha, NE, USA; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, CommonSpirit/CHI Health, Lakeside, Omaha, NE, USA.
| | | | - Danielle B Dilsaver
- Department of Clinical Research and Public Health, Creighton University School of Medicine, Omaha, NE, USA
| | - Holly A F Stessman
- Department of Pharmacology and Neuroscience, Creighton University School of Medicine, USA
| | - Cynthia Watson
- Biorepository Core, Creighton University School of Medicine, USA
| | - Jonathan Handelzalts
- The Academic College of Tel-Aviv, Graduate Program in Clinical Psychology, School of Behavioral Sciences, Yaffo, Israel; Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Pooja Doehrman
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Creighton University School of Medicine, Phoenix, AZ 85013, USA; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Arizona College of Medicine, Phoenix, AZ 85013, USA; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology CommonSpirit/Dignity Health, Phoenix, AZ, USA
| | - Ryan W Walters
- Department of Clinical Research and Public Health, Creighton University School of Medicine, Omaha, NE, USA
| | - Amy S Badura-Brack
- Department of Psychological Science, Creighton University, Omaha, NE, USA
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Gumusoglu SB. The role of the placenta-brain axis in psychoneuroimmune programming. Brain Behav Immun Health 2024; 36:100735. [PMID: 38420039 PMCID: PMC10900837 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbih.2024.100735] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2023] [Revised: 01/06/2024] [Accepted: 02/04/2024] [Indexed: 03/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Gestational exposures have enduring impacts on brain and neuroimmune development and function. Perturbations of pregnancy leading to placental structure/function deficits, cell stress, immune activation, and endocrine changes (metabolic, growth factors, etc.) all increase neuropsychiatric risk in offspring. The existing literature links obstetric diseases with placental involvement to offspring neuroimmune outcomes and neurodevelopmental risk. Psychoneuroimmune outcomes in offspring brain include changes to microglia, cytokine/chemokine production, cell stress, and long-term immunoreactivity. These outcomes are altered by structural, anti-angiogenic/hypoxic, inflammatory, and metabolic diseases of the placenta. This fetal programming occurs via direct placental passage or production of factors which can act directly on fetal brain substrates, or indirectly via action of circulating factors on intermediates in the placenta. Placental neuroendocrine, vascular/angiogenic, immune, and extracellular vesicular mechanisms are detailed. These mechanisms interact within various placental and pregnancy conditions. An increased understanding of the placental origins of psychoneuroimmunology will yield dividends for human health. Identifying maternal and placental biomarkers for fetal neuroimmune health may also revolutionize early diagnosis and precision psychiatry, empowering patients to make the best healthcare decisions for their families. Targeting placental mechanisms may be a valuable approach for the prevention and mitigation of intergenerational, lifelong neuropathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Serena B. Gumusoglu
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, 200 Hawkins Dr. Iowa City, IA, 52327, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, USA
- Iowa Neuroscience Institute, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
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Brown RSE, Jacobs IM, Khant Aung Z, Knowles PJ, Grattan DR, Ladyman SR. High fat diet-induced maternal obesity in mice impairs peripartum maternal behaviour. J Neuroendocrinol 2023; 35:e13350. [PMID: 37926066 DOI: 10.1111/jne.13350] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2023] [Revised: 09/20/2023] [Accepted: 10/11/2023] [Indexed: 11/07/2023]
Abstract
Obesity during pregnancy represents a significant health issue and can lead to increased complications during pregnancy and impairments with breastfeeding, along with long-term negative health consequences for both mother and offspring. In rodent models, diet-induced obesity (DIO) during pregnancy leads to poor outcomes for offspring. Using a DIO mouse model, consisting of feeding mice a high fat diet for 8 weeks before mating, we recapitulate the effect of high pup mortality within the first 3 days postpartum. To examine the activity of the dam around the time of birth, late pregnant control and DIO dams were recorded in their home cages and the behaviour of the dam immediately before and after birth was analysed. Prior to giving birth, DIO dams spent less time engaging in nesting behaviour, while after birth, DIO dams spent less time in the nest with their pups compared to control dams, indicating reduced pup-engagement in the early postpartum period. We have previously reported that lactogenic hormone action, mediated by the prolactin receptor, in the medial preoptic area of the hypothalamus (MPOA) is critical for the onset of normal postpartum maternal behaviour. We hypothesized that DIO dams may have lower lactogenic hormone activity during late pregnancy, which would contribute to impaired onset of normal postpartum maternal behaviour. Day 16 lactogenic activity, transport of prolactin into the brain, and plasma prolactin concentrations around birth were all similar in control and DIO dams. Moreover, endogenous pSTAT5, a marker of prolactin receptor activity, in the MPOA was unaffected by DIO. Overall, these data indicate that lactogenic activity in late pregnancy of DIO dams is not different to controls and is unlikely to play a major role in impaired onset of normal postpartum maternal behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosemary Shanon Eileen Brown
- Centre for Neuroendocrinology, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
- Department of Physiology, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Ireland M Jacobs
- Centre for Neuroendocrinology, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
- Department of Anatomy, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Zin Khant Aung
- Centre for Neuroendocrinology, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
- Department of Anatomy, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Pene J Knowles
- Centre for Neuroendocrinology, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
- Department of Anatomy, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - David R Grattan
- Centre for Neuroendocrinology, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
- Department of Anatomy, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
- Maurice Wilkins Centre for Molecular Biodiscovery, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Sharon R Ladyman
- Centre for Neuroendocrinology, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
- Department of Anatomy, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
- Maurice Wilkins Centre for Molecular Biodiscovery, Auckland, New Zealand
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Taggart MJ, Tribe RM. Physiological resilience across the lifecourse: in utero and beyond. Exp Physiol 2022; 107:395-397. [PMID: 35415849 DOI: 10.1113/ep090320] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2022] [Accepted: 04/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Michael J Taggart
- Biosciences Institute, International Centre for Life, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK
| | - Rachel M Tribe
- Department of Women and Children's Health, School of Life Course and Population Science, King's College London, London, UK
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