title: Maternal Exposure to Childhood Trauma Is Associated During Pregnancy With Placental-Fetal Stress Physiology.
abstract: The effects of exposure to childhood trauma (CT) may be transmitted across generations; however, the time period(s) and mechanism(s) have yet to be clarified. We address the hypothesis that intergenerational transmission may begin during intrauterine life via the effect of maternal CT exposure on placental-fetal stress physiology, specifically placental corticotropin-releasing hormone (pCRH).
  
  
  
  The study was conducted in a sociodemographically diverse cohort of 295 pregnant women. CT exposure was assessed using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. Placental CRH concentrations were quantified in maternal blood collected serially over the course of gestation. Linear mixed effects and Bayesian piece-wise linear models were employed to test hypothesized relationships.
  
  
  
  Maternal CT exposure (CT+) was significantly associated with pCRH production. Compared with nonexposed women, CT+ was associated with an almost 25% increase in pCRH toward the end of gestation, and the pCRH trajectory of CT+ women exhibited an approximately twofold steeper increase after the pCRH inflection point at 19 weeks gestation.
  
  
  
  To the best of our knowledge, this finding represents the first report linking maternal CT exposure with placental-fetal stress physiology, thus identifying a potential novel biological pathway of intergenerational transmission that may operate as early as during intrauterine life.
authors.affiliation: Development, Health, and Disease Research Program, University of California, Irvine, Orange, California; Department of Medical Psychology, Charité University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Nora K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Moog
authors.affiliation: Development, Health, and Disease Research Program, University of California, Irvine, Orange, California; Department of Medical Psychology, Charité University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany; Department of Pediatrics, University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine, Orange.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Buss
authors.affiliation: Development, Health, and Disease Research Program, University of California, Irvine, Orange, California; Department of Medical Psychology, Charité University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles.
authors.forename: Sonja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Entringer
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistics, University of California, Irvine, Irvine.
authors.forename: Babak
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Shahbaba
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistics, University of California, Irvine, Irvine.
authors.forename: Daniel L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Gillen
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles.
authors.forename: Calvin J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Hobel
authors.affiliation: Development, Health, and Disease Research Program, University of California, Irvine, Orange, California; Department of Pediatrics, University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine, Orange; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles; Departments of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine, Orange, Irvine, California; Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine, Orange, Irvine, California; Department of Epidemiology, University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine, Irvine, California. Electronic address: pwadhwa@uci.edu.
authors.forename: Pathik D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Wadhwa
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse; D003346:Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D005315:Fetal Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D018811:Maternal Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D010922:Placenta Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000503:physiopathology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D003346:Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone
keywords: Childhood trauma; Developmental programming; Intergenerational transmission; Placental CRH; Preconceptional stress; Pregnancy