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- Stenius, Fredrik, et al.
(författare)
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Comparisons between salivary cortisol levels in six-months-olds and their parents.
- 2008
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Ingår i: Psychoneuroendocrinology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0306-4530 .- 1873-3360. ; 33:3, s. 352-9
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Comparisons between salivary cortisol levels in six-months-olds and their parents.Stenius F, Theorell T, Lilja G, Scheynius A, Alm J, Lindblad F.Karolinska Institutet, Department of Clinical Science and Education, Södersjukhuset, Section of Pediatrics, Sachs' Children's Hospital, 118 83 Stockholm, Sweden. fredrik.stenius@sodersjukhuset.seBACKGROUND: There is a close relation between the psychosocial environment of the infant--including the perception of maternal behaviour--and cortisol levels of the infant. One previous study has also demonstrated a correlation between mother and infant mean cortisol levels. In this study, this relation was further explored, also including father cortisol levels. METHODS: Saliva cortisol samples were collected from 51 six-months-olds and their parents on the same day in the morning, afternoon and evening. Analyses were performed with a radioimmunoassay technique. All mothers were at home with their child at this age and 47/51 mothers were breast feeding. RESULTS: Strong correlations were found between mother and child levels on all sampling occasions whereas weaker correlations were found between father and child levels and only in the afternoon and the evening samples. There was also a strong relation between waking up/bedtime-difference in mother and child and a weaker relation between the corresponding measure in father and child. CONCLUSIONS: The stronger mother-infant than father-infant cortisol level correlations probably mirror that mother and infant not only have genetic similarities but also have been exposed to similar environmental conditions to a higher degree than father and infant.
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| 2. |
- Stenius, Fredrik, et al.
(författare)
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Low salivary cortisol levels in infants of families with an anthroposophic lifestyle
- 2010
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Ingår i: Psychoneuroendocrinology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0306-4530 .- 1873-3360. ; 35:10, s. 1431-1437
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The anthroposophic lifestyle implies environmental conditions for the infant aimed at reducing negative stress stimulation and is also related to a lower prevalence of allergic diseases in children. One aim of this prospective birth cohort study was to assess stress levels in infants with an anthroposophic lifestyle. A total of 330 infants from families with anthroposophic or more conventional lifestyles were followed from pregnancy of their mothers until the age of 6 months. Information on lifestyle factors was obtained from questionnaires. Salivary samples from 210 6-month olds and their parents were collected on three occasions during 1 day for analysis of cortisol. Infants from families with an anthroposophic lifestyle had significantly lower cortisol levels on all three sampling occasions compared to other infants. In the morning, the geometric means of salivary cortisol concentration (with 95% confidence limits) were 8.8 nmol/l (6.7-11.5), 11.3 nmol/l (9.3-13.7) and 14.9 nmol/l (11.3-19.6) in infants classified as anthroposophic, partly anthroposophic and non-anthroposophic, respectively (p=0.018). On the other hand, there was no difference in cortisol levels between the parents in the different groups. Several lifestyle factors differed significantly between the groups, but none of them independently explained the difference in cortisol levels. However, living on a farm during pregnancy was significantly associated with low saliva cortisol level in the infant. It can be concluded that low salivary cortisol levels in infants from anthroposophic families may be related to an environment with a lower degree of exposure to stress, which could influence the development of allergic diseases.
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