IISBR
  • Home
  • Meet Our Team
    • IISBR Team Members
    • Postdoctoral Researchers
    • Faculty Affiliates
  • Assay Services
    • Assay Service Menu
    • Sample Collection and Shipping
  • IISBR Research
    • IISBR Google Scholar
    • IISBR Publications
  • Courses and Trainings
    • Undergraduate and Graduate Courses
    • Spit Camp I
    • Spit Camp II
  • Events
  • Contact Us
  • Forms
    • Assay Quote
    • Spit Camp I Pre-Registration
    • Spit Camp II Pre-Registration

Prematurity, Birth Weight, and Socioeconomic Status Are Linked to Atypical Diurnal Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis Activity in Young Adults.

April 21, 2016 by IISBR

Background: In a prospective, case-controlled longitudinal design, 180 preterm and fullterm infants who had been enrolled at birth participated in a comprehensive assessment battery at age 23. Of these, 149 young adults, 34 formerly full-term and 115 formerly preterm (22 healthy preterm, 48 with medical complications, 21 with neurological complications, and 24 small for gestational age) donated five saliva samples from a single day that were assayed for cortisol to assess diurnal variation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Analyses were conducted to determine whether prematurity category, birth weight, and socioeconomic status were associated with differences in HPA axis function. Pre- and perinatal circumstances associated with prematurity influenced the activity of this environmentally sensitive physiological system. Results are consistent with the theory of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease and highlight a possible mechanism for the link between prematurity and health disparities later in life.

View Abstract

UCI School of Social Ecology
Social Ecology I
Irvine, CA 92697-7050
www.uci.edu
www.socialecology.uci.edu

UCI Program in Public Health
UCI Health Sciences Complex
856 Health Sciences Quad
Irvine, CA 92697-3957
www.uci.edu www.publichealth.uci.edu

Log-In

© 2023 UC Regents