Journal
CLINICAL AND INVESTIGATIVE MEDICINE
Volume 30, Issue 2, Pages E103-E107Publisher
CANADIAN SOC CLINICAL INVESTIGATION
DOI: 10.25011/cim.v30i2.986
Keywords
cortisol; hair; stress; pregnancy
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Purpose: Stress has been shown to cause a large range of adverse fetal effects. This pilot study is the first attempt to examine cortisol level in the hair of pregnant women and assess its potential as a biomarker of gestational stress. Patients and Methods: Twenty-five healthy pregnant women, in whom hair cortisol levels and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) were measured and correlated. Results: Maternal hair cortisol levels, ranging between 0.06 and 0.23 nmol/g of hair correlated positively and significantly with measures of perceived stress (ranging between 2-22); ( R-s=0.47) (P <.05). Conclusions: Our findings corroborate recent primate studies with induced stress, and suggest that hair cortisol is a potential biomarker of chronic stress in pregnancy. This new long term biological marker may have important implications in research and clinical practice.
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