Associations between psychosocial stress and oxidative stress during pregnancy in Puerto Rico
Year: 2019
Type: conference-abstract
Abstract: TPS 742: Adverse birth outcomes 1, Exhibition Hall, Ground floor, August 27, 2019, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM Background/Aim: Psychosocial stress during pregnancy has been associated with adverse birth outcomes including preterm birth. While hypothalamic-pituitary-axis activation is thought to be the primary driver, oxidative stress and inflammation may also be involved mechanistically. We used data from the Puerto Rico Testsite for Exploring Contamination Threats (PROTECT) cohort (N=476), which examines environmental risk factors for preterm birth in the Northern Karst region of Puerto Rico, to examine associations between psychosocial stress measures, demographic characteristics, and urinary oxidative stress biomarker concentrations. Methods: Perceived stress, depression, negative life experiences, neighborhood perceptions, and social support were self-reported in questionnaires administered during pregnancy. Responses were grouped into tertiles for analysis, where the highest tertile corresponded to highest level of psychosocial stress. Urinary concentrations of 8-iso-prostaglandin F2α (8-iso-PGF2α), its primary metabolite, and prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α) were measured at three study visits (median 18, 24, 28 weeks gestation) and averaged to reflect oxidative stress or inflammation across pregnancy. Geometric means and standard deviations were used to examine distributions of biomarkers across demographic characteristics. Linear models were used to examine adjusted associations between tertiles of psychosocial stress and oxidative stress biomarkers. Results: Average levels of 8-iso-PGF2α, its metabolite, and PGF2α were higher among pregnant women who were between 18-24 compared to 25-29 years of age, who had public compared to private insurance, and who were unemployed compared to employed (p-value<0.05). However, no associations were observed between tertiles of psychosocial stress measures and biomarker concentrations. Notably, compared to other populations, there are relatively low levels of psychosocial stress in PROTECT. Conclusions: Psychosocial stress during pregnancy, as indicated by self-reported questionnaire measures, was not associated with biomarkers of oxidative stress and inflammation in the PROTECT population. However, results from our study suggest that these biomarkers are elevated among women of lower socio-economic status, which is typically associated with stress.
Source: Environmental Epidemiology
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,200
OpenAlex ID: W2982253569