Universität zu Köln

Hucklenbruch-Rother, Eva, Vohlen, Christina, Mehdiani, Nava, Keller, Titus, Roth, Bernhard, Kribs, Angela and Mehler, Katrin (2020). Delivery room skin-to-skin contact in preterm infants affects long-term expression of stress response genes. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 122. OXFORD: PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD. ISSN 0306-4530

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Abstract

Premature birth is a traumatic event that puts mother and child at risk for subsequent psychopathology. Skin-to skin contact in the form of intermittent kangaroo mother care has been shown to positively affect the infant's stress response and cognitive development, but underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Moreover, first skin-to skin contact is usually delayed for days after birth. In the delivery room skin-to-skin study (DR-SSC), a prospective randomized controlled trial conducted from 2/ 2012 to 7/2015, we set out to assess the effect of delivery room skin-to-skin contact on the infant's mRNA expression of six key molecules involved in stress response and neurobehavioral development at hospital discharge. 88 firstborn, singleton preterm infants (born at 25-32 weeks of gestational age) were included. In the delivery room after initial stabilization, infants were randomized to either 60 min of skin-to-skin or 5 min of visual contact with their mother. In this explorative add-on study on the original DR-SSC study, we determined the expression of six important stress response genes (CRHR1 and CRHR2, AVP, NR3C1, HTR2A, and SLC6A4) in peripheral white blood cells of infants during routine blood sampling upon hospital discharge (corrected gestational age of 40 weeks). Infants were followed up to six months corrected age. Relative mRNA expression of the corticotropin releasing hormone receptor 2 (CRH R2), the glucocorticoid receptor gene (NR3C1), and the serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4) was significantly reduced in the delivery room SSC infants. Additionally, gene expression of CRH R2 showed a correlation with HPA axis reactivity and parameters of mother-child interaction at six months corrected age. Our results highlight the importance of delivery room mother-child skin-to-skin contact and underline the urgent need for in-depth studies on the underlying molecular mechanisms.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Hucklenbruch-Rother, Eva UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Vohlen, Christina UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Mehdiani, Nava UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Keller, Titus UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Roth, Bernhard UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Kribs, Angela UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Mehler, Katrin UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-309307
DOI:	10.1016/j.psyneuen.2020.104883
Journal or Publication Title:	Psychoneuroendocrinology
Volume:	122
Date:	2020
Publisher:	PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
Place of Publication:	OXFORD
ISSN:	0306-4530
Language:	English
Faculty:	Unspecified
Divisions:	Unspecified
Subjects:	no entry
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language PITUITARY-ADRENAL AXIS; NEURODEVELOPMENTAL OUTCOMES; SLC6A4 METHYLATION; BIRTH; MOTHER; CARE; CORTISOL; BRAIN; AGE; REACTIVITY Multiple languages Endocrinology & Metabolism; Neurosciences; Psychiatry Multiple languages
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/30930