title: Perinatal effects on in vivo measures of human brain serotonin synthesis in adulthood: a 27-year longitudinal study.
abstract: There is an increasing evidence that prenatal and early postnatal stressors have life long impacts on physical and mental health problems. Animal studies have shown that this could include enduring changes to brain serotonin neurotransmission. In the present study, we tested whether perinatal adversity in humans has a long-term impact on brain serotonin neurotransmission in adulthood. Twenty-six healthy males, recruited from a 27-year longitudinal study, underwent a positron emission tomography scan with the tracer alpha-[¹¹C]methyl-L-tryptophan (¹¹C-AMT), as an index of serotonin synthesis capacity. The trapping constant is taken as a proxy for the regional 5-HT synthesis. Birth complications, especially a delivery where the fetus showed signs of physiological distress, predicted lower ¹¹C-AMT trapping in the hippocampus and medial orbitofrontal cortex. Lower ¹¹C-AMT trapping in the medial orbitofrontal cortex was also predicted by maternal smoking and lower birth weight. There were no effects of childhood or recent adversity. This is the first human study reporting associations between perinatal adversity and adult ¹¹C-AMT trapping in the hippocampus and medial orbitofrontal cortex. The associations suggest that limbic serotonin pathways may be particularly vulnerable to environmental challenges during the period when they undergo the most prominent neurodevelopmental changes. In combination with other risk factors, perinatal stressors may contribute to increased vulnerability for psychiatric disorders in which serotonin plays a major role.
authors.affiliation: Sainte-Justine Hospital Research Center, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. linda.booij@umontreal.ca
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Booij
authors.forename: Chawki
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Benkelfat
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Leyton
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vitaro
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gravel
authors.forename: Mélissa L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Lévesque
authors.forename: Louise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Arseneault
authors.forename: Mirko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Diksic
authors.forename: Richard E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Tremblay
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001724:Birth Weight / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes; D005260:Female; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D009538:Nicotine / Q000009:adverse effects; D007744:Obstetric Labor Complications / Q000473:pathology*; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000473:pathology; D012701:Serotonin / Q000378:metabolism*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014364:Tryptophan / Q000031:analogs & derivatives
chemical_list: D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes; C020774:alpha-methyltryptophan; D012701:Serotonin; D009538:Nicotine; D014364:Tryptophan