Maternal exposure to childhood trauma is associated during pregnancy with placental-fetal stress physiology (Biological Psychiatry)

By Nora K. Moog, MSc, Claudia Buss, PhD, [...], and Pathik D. Wadhwa, MD, PhD, Biol Psychiatry. 2016 May 15; PMCID: PMC4777678.

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 corticotrophin-releasing hormone (pCRH).

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.

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