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Dr. Whitney Cowell
Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA

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0 Endogenous Biomarkers
0 fetal growth
0 pregnancy outcomes
0 Prenatal environmental exposures
0 Chemical/non-chemical stress interactions

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Journal article
Published: 06 June 2021 in Mitochondrion
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Mitochondria fuel placental activity, with mitochondrial dysfunction implicated in several perinatal complications. We investigated placental mtDNA mutational load using NextGen sequencing in relation to birthweight and gestational length among 358 mother-newborn pairs. We found that higher heteroplasmy, especially in the hypervariable displacement loop region, was associated with shorter gestational length. Results were similar among male and female pregnancies, but stronger in magnitude among females. With regard to growth, we observed that higher mutational load was associated with lower birthweight-for-gestational age (BWGA) among females, but higher BWGA among males. These findings support potential sex-differential fetal biological strategies for coping with increased heteroplasmies.

ACS Style

Whitney Cowell; Kelly Brunst; Elena Colicino; Li Zhang; Xiang Zhang; Tessa R. Bloomquist; Andrea A. Baccarelli; Rosalind J. Wright. Placental mitochondrial DNA mutational load and perinatal outcomes: findings from a multi-ethnic pregnancy cohort. Mitochondrion 2021, 59, 267 -275.

AMA Style

Whitney Cowell, Kelly Brunst, Elena Colicino, Li Zhang, Xiang Zhang, Tessa R. Bloomquist, Andrea A. Baccarelli, Rosalind J. Wright. Placental mitochondrial DNA mutational load and perinatal outcomes: findings from a multi-ethnic pregnancy cohort. Mitochondrion. 2021; 59 ():267-275.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Whitney Cowell; Kelly Brunst; Elena Colicino; Li Zhang; Xiang Zhang; Tessa R. Bloomquist; Andrea A. Baccarelli; Rosalind J. Wright. 2021. "Placental mitochondrial DNA mutational load and perinatal outcomes: findings from a multi-ethnic pregnancy cohort." Mitochondrion 59, no. : 267-275.

Journal article
Published: 14 May 2021 in Psychoneuroendocrinology
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Telomeres are protective caps on chromosome ends that shorten with each cell division. Telomere length (TL) predicts the onset of cellular senescence and correlates with longevity and age-related disease risk. Previous research suggests that adults display fixed ranking and tracking of TL by age 20 years, supporting the importance of TL at birth and attrition during childhood. However, longitudinal research examining telomere dynamics during early life is sparse. Here, we used monochrome multiplex quantitative polymerase chain reaction to measure relative TL in leukocytes isolated from cord blood and child blood collected at ages 3, 5, 7, and 9 years among 224 minority children enrolled in a New York City-based birth cohort. We also measured maternal TL at delivery in a subset of 197 participants with a biobanked blood sample. TL decreased most rapidly in the first years of life (birth to 3 years), followed by a period of maintenance into the pre-puberty period. Mothers with longer telomeres gave birth to newborns with longer telomeres that remained longer across childhood, suggesting that the fixed ranking and tracking of TL observed among adults may extend to early childhood or even the prenatal period with a potential transgenerational basis. We did not find significant sex differences in the pattern of child TL change across development. These findings emphasize the need to understand factors and mechanisms that determine TL during early childhood.

ACS Style

Whitney Cowell; Deliang Tang; Jie Yu; Jia Guo; Shuang Wang; Andrea A. Baccarelli; Frederica Perera; Julie B. Herbstman. Telomere dynamics across the early life course: Findings from a longitudinal study in children. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2021, 129, 105270 .

AMA Style

Whitney Cowell, Deliang Tang, Jie Yu, Jia Guo, Shuang Wang, Andrea A. Baccarelli, Frederica Perera, Julie B. Herbstman. Telomere dynamics across the early life course: Findings from a longitudinal study in children. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2021; 129 ():105270.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Whitney Cowell; Deliang Tang; Jie Yu; Jia Guo; Shuang Wang; Andrea A. Baccarelli; Frederica Perera; Julie B. Herbstman. 2021. "Telomere dynamics across the early life course: Findings from a longitudinal study in children." Psychoneuroendocrinology 129, no. : 105270.

Original research article
Published: 01 April 2021 in Environmental Epidemiology
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Background: Prenatal exposure to metals has been associated with a range of adverse neurocognitive outcomes; however, associations with early behavioral development are less well understood. We examined joint exposure to multiple co-occurring metals in relation to infant negative affect, a stable temperamental trait linked to psychopathology among children and adults. Methods: Analyses included 308 mother-infant pairs enrolled in the PRISM pregnancy cohort. We measured As, Ba, Cd, Cs, Cr, Pb, and Sb in urine, collected on average during late pregnancy, by ICP-MS. At age 6 months, we assessed negative affect using the Infant Behavior Questionnaire—Revised. We used Weighted Quantile Sum (WQS) regression with repeated holdout validation to estimate the joint association between the metals and global negative affectivity, as well as four subdomains (Fear, Sadness, Distress to Limitations, and Falling Reactivity). We also tested for a sex interaction with estimated stratified weights. Results: In adjusted models, urinary metals were associated with higher scores on the Fear scale (βWQS = 0.20, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.09, 0.30), which captures behavioral inhibition, characterized by startle or distress to sudden changes in the environment and inhibited approach to novelty. We observed a significant sex interaction (95% CI for the cross-product term: −0.19, −0.01), and stratified weights showed girls (61.6%) contributed substantially more to the mixture effect compared with boys (38.4%). Overall, Ba contributed the greatest mixture weight (22.5%), followed by Cs (14.9%) and As (14.6%). Conclusions: Prenatal exposure to metals was associated with increased infant scores on the temperamental domain of fear, with girls showing particular sensitivity. Key words: Prenatal; Metals; Mixtures; Temperament; Infancy; Negative affect

ACS Style

Whitney Cowell; Elena Colicino; Yuri Levin-Schwartz; Michelle Bosquet Enlow; Chitra Amarasiriwardena; Syam S. Andra; Chris Gennings; Robert O. Wright; Rosalind J. Wright. Prenatal metal mixtures and sex-specific infant negative affectivity. Environmental Epidemiology 2021, 5, e147 .

AMA Style

Whitney Cowell, Elena Colicino, Yuri Levin-Schwartz, Michelle Bosquet Enlow, Chitra Amarasiriwardena, Syam S. Andra, Chris Gennings, Robert O. Wright, Rosalind J. Wright. Prenatal metal mixtures and sex-specific infant negative affectivity. Environmental Epidemiology. 2021; 5 (2):e147.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Whitney Cowell; Elena Colicino; Yuri Levin-Schwartz; Michelle Bosquet Enlow; Chitra Amarasiriwardena; Syam S. Andra; Chris Gennings; Robert O. Wright; Rosalind J. Wright. 2021. "Prenatal metal mixtures and sex-specific infant negative affectivity." Environmental Epidemiology 5, no. 2: e147.

Research article
Published: 08 January 2021 in PLOS ONE
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Preterm birth occurs at excessively high and disparate rates in the United States. In 2016, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) launched the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program to investigate the influence of early life exposures on child health. Extant data from the ECHO cohorts provides the opportunity to examine racial and geographic variation in effects of individual- and neighborhood-level markers of socioeconomic status (SES) on gestational age at birth. The objective of this study was to examine the association between individual-level (maternal education) and neighborhood-level markers of SES and gestational age at birth, stratifying by maternal race/ethnicity, and whether any such associations are modified by US geographic region. Twenty-six ECHO cohorts representing 25,526 mother-infant pairs contributed to this disseminated meta-analysis that investigated the effect of maternal prenatal level of education (high school diploma, GED, or less; some college, associate’s degree, vocational or technical training [reference category]; bachelor’s degree, graduate school, or professional degree) and neighborhood-level markers of SES (census tract [CT] urbanicity, percentage of black population in CT, percentage of population below the federal poverty level in CT) on gestational age at birth (categorized as preterm, early term, full term [the reference category], late, and post term) according to maternal race/ethnicity and US region. Multinomial logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Cohort-specific results were meta-analyzed using a random effects model. For women overall, a bachelor’s degree or above, compared with some college, was associated with a significantly decreased odds of preterm birth (aOR 0.72; 95% CI: 0.61–0.86), whereas a high school education or less was associated with an increased odds of early term birth (aOR 1.10, 95% CI: 1.00–1.21). When stratifying by maternal race/ethnicity, there were no significant associations between maternal education and gestational age at birth among women of racial/ethnic groups other than non-Hispanic white. Among non-Hispanic white women, a bachelor’s degree or above was likewise associated with a significantly decreased odds of preterm birth (aOR 0.74 (95% CI: 0.58, 0.94) as well as a decreased odds of early term birth (aOR 0.84 (95% CI: 0.74, 0.95). The association between maternal education and gestational age at birth varied according to US region, with higher levels of maternal education associated with a significantly decreased odds of preterm birth in the Midwest and South but not in the Northeast and West. Non-Hispanic white women residing in rural compared to urban CTs had an increased odds of preterm birth; the ability to detect associations between neighborhood-level measures of SES and gestational age for other race/ethnic groups was limited due to small sample sizes within select strata. Interventions that promote higher educational attainment among women of reproductive age could contribute to a reduction in preterm birth, particularly in the US South and Midwest. Further individual-level analyses engaging a diverse set of cohorts are needed to disentangle the complex interrelationships among maternal education, neighborhood-level factors, exposures across the life course, and gestational age at birth outcomes by maternal race/ethnicity and US geography.

ACS Style

Anne L. Dunlop; Alicynne Glazier Essalmi; Lyndsay Alvalos; Carrie Breton; Carlos A. Camargo; Whitney J. Cowell; Dana Dabelea; Stephen R. Dager; Cristiane Duarte; Amy Elliott; Raina Fichorova; James Gern; Monique M. Hedderson; Elizabeth Hom Thepaksorn; Kathi Huddleston; Margaret R. Karagas; Ken Kleinman; Leslie Leve; Ximin Li; Yijun Li; Augusto Litonjua; Yunin Ludena-Rodriguez; Juliette C. Madan; Julio Mateus Nino; Cynthia McEvoy; Thomas G. O’Connor; Amy M. Padula; Nigel Paneth; Frederica Perera; Sheela Sathyanarayana; Rebecca J. Schmidt; Robert T. Schultz; Jessica Snowden; Joseph B. Stanford; Leonardo Trasande; Heather E. Volk; William Wheaton; Rosalind J. Wright; Monica McGrath; on behalf of program collaborators for Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes. Racial and geographic variation in effects of maternal education and neighborhood-level measures of socioeconomic status on gestational age at birth: Findings from the ECHO cohorts. PLOS ONE 2021, 16, e0245064 .

AMA Style

Anne L. Dunlop, Alicynne Glazier Essalmi, Lyndsay Alvalos, Carrie Breton, Carlos A. Camargo, Whitney J. Cowell, Dana Dabelea, Stephen R. Dager, Cristiane Duarte, Amy Elliott, Raina Fichorova, James Gern, Monique M. Hedderson, Elizabeth Hom Thepaksorn, Kathi Huddleston, Margaret R. Karagas, Ken Kleinman, Leslie Leve, Ximin Li, Yijun Li, Augusto Litonjua, Yunin Ludena-Rodriguez, Juliette C. Madan, Julio Mateus Nino, Cynthia McEvoy, Thomas G. O’Connor, Amy M. Padula, Nigel Paneth, Frederica Perera, Sheela Sathyanarayana, Rebecca J. Schmidt, Robert T. Schultz, Jessica Snowden, Joseph B. Stanford, Leonardo Trasande, Heather E. Volk, William Wheaton, Rosalind J. Wright, Monica McGrath, on behalf of program collaborators for Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes. Racial and geographic variation in effects of maternal education and neighborhood-level measures of socioeconomic status on gestational age at birth: Findings from the ECHO cohorts. PLOS ONE. 2021; 16 (1):e0245064.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Anne L. Dunlop; Alicynne Glazier Essalmi; Lyndsay Alvalos; Carrie Breton; Carlos A. Camargo; Whitney J. Cowell; Dana Dabelea; Stephen R. Dager; Cristiane Duarte; Amy Elliott; Raina Fichorova; James Gern; Monique M. Hedderson; Elizabeth Hom Thepaksorn; Kathi Huddleston; Margaret R. Karagas; Ken Kleinman; Leslie Leve; Ximin Li; Yijun Li; Augusto Litonjua; Yunin Ludena-Rodriguez; Juliette C. Madan; Julio Mateus Nino; Cynthia McEvoy; Thomas G. O’Connor; Amy M. Padula; Nigel Paneth; Frederica Perera; Sheela Sathyanarayana; Rebecca J. Schmidt; Robert T. Schultz; Jessica Snowden; Joseph B. Stanford; Leonardo Trasande; Heather E. Volk; William Wheaton; Rosalind J. Wright; Monica McGrath; on behalf of program collaborators for Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes. 2021. "Racial and geographic variation in effects of maternal education and neighborhood-level measures of socioeconomic status on gestational age at birth: Findings from the ECHO cohorts." PLOS ONE 16, no. 1: e0245064.

Journal article
Published: 06 January 2021 in Biology of Sex Differences
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Background Fetal sex is known to modify the course and complications of pregnancy, with recent evidence of sex-differential fetal influences on the maternal immune and endocrine systems. In turn, heightened inflammation and surges in reproductive hormone levels associated with pregnancy and parturition have been linked with the development of perinatal depression. Here, we examined whether there is an association between fetal sex and maternal depression assessed during the prenatal and postnatal periods. Methods The study included two multi-ethnic, prospective pregnancy cohorts that enrolled women from prenatal clinics in the Northeastern United States between 2001 and 2018. Maternal depressive symptoms were measured during the prenatal and postnatal periods using the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (EPDS), and newborn sex was reported by the mother following delivery. We used logistic regression to examine associations between fetal sex and maternal depressive symptoms (EPDS > 10) during the prenatal period only, postnatal period only, or both periods versus no depressive symptoms during either period. We considered both unadjusted models and models adjusted for a core set of sociodemographic and lifestyle variables. Results In adjusted models using PRISM data (N = 528), women pregnant with a male versus female fetus had significantly greater odds of depressive symptoms during the postnatal period compared to women without depressive symptoms during either period (odds ratio [OR] = 5.24, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.93, 14.21). The direction of results was consistent in the ACCESS cohort, although the findings did not reach statistical significance (OR = 2.05, 95% CI = 0.86, 4.93). Significant associations were not observed in either cohort among women with prenatal symptoms only or women with prenatal and postnatal symptoms. Conclusions Male fetal sex was associated with the onset of depressive symptoms during the postnatal period.

ACS Style

Whitney Cowell; Elena Colicino; Talia Askowitz; Farida Nentin; Rosalind J. Wright. Fetal sex and maternal postpartum depressive symptoms: findings from two prospective pregnancy cohorts. Biology of Sex Differences 2021, 12, 1 -10.

AMA Style

Whitney Cowell, Elena Colicino, Talia Askowitz, Farida Nentin, Rosalind J. Wright. Fetal sex and maternal postpartum depressive symptoms: findings from two prospective pregnancy cohorts. Biology of Sex Differences. 2021; 12 (1):1-10.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Whitney Cowell; Elena Colicino; Talia Askowitz; Farida Nentin; Rosalind J. Wright. 2021. "Fetal sex and maternal postpartum depressive symptoms: findings from two prospective pregnancy cohorts." Biology of Sex Differences 12, no. 1: 1-10.

Preprint content
Published: 22 December 2020
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Background: Fetal sex is known to modify the course and complications of pregnancy, with recent evidence of sex-differential fetal influences on the maternal immune and endocrine systems. In turn, heightened inflammation and surges in reproductive hormone levels associated with pregnancy and parturition have been linked with the development of perinatal depression. Here, we examined whether there is an association between fetal sex and maternal depression assessed during the prenatal and postnatal periods.Methods: The study included two multi-ethnic, prospective pregnancy cohorts that enrolled women from prenatal clinics in the Northeastern United States between 2001 and 2018. Maternal depressive symptoms were measured during the prenatal and postnatal periods using the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (EPDS) and newborn sex was reported by the mother following delivery. We used logistic regression to examine associations between fetal sex and maternal depressive symptoms (EPDS>10) during the prenatal period only, postnatal period only, or both periods versus no depressive symptoms during either period. We considered both unadjusted models and models adjusted for a core set of sociodemographic and lifestyle variables.Results: In adjusted models using PRISM data (N=528), women pregnant with a male versus female fetus had significantly greater odds of depressive symptoms during the postnatal period compared to women without depressive symptoms during either period (odds ratio [OR] = 5.24, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.93, 14.21). The direction of results was consistent in the ACCESS cohort, although the findings did not reach statistical significance (OR = 2.05, 95% CI = 0.86, 4.93). Significant associations were not observed in either cohort among women with prenatal symptoms only or women with prenatal and postnatal symptoms.Conclusions: Male fetal sex was associated with the onset of depressive symptoms during the postnatal period.

ACS Style

Whitney Cowell; Elena Colicino; Talia Askowitz; Farida Nentin; Rosalind Wright. Fetal sex and maternal postpartum depressive symptoms: findings from two prospective pregnancy cohorts. 2020, 1 .

AMA Style

Whitney Cowell, Elena Colicino, Talia Askowitz, Farida Nentin, Rosalind Wright. Fetal sex and maternal postpartum depressive symptoms: findings from two prospective pregnancy cohorts. . 2020; ():1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Whitney Cowell; Elena Colicino; Talia Askowitz; Farida Nentin; Rosalind Wright. 2020. "Fetal sex and maternal postpartum depressive symptoms: findings from two prospective pregnancy cohorts." , no. : 1.

Article
Published: 18 November 2020 in Maternal and Child Health Journal
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Most studies examining psychosocial factors contributing to preterm birth (PTB) have focused on negative life events. Studies examining the influence of negative emotion, in particular maternal anger, remain sparse. We examined associations of maternal trait anger expression and lifetime traumatic and non-traumatic experiences with the risk of PTB. Mother-newborn pairs were enrolled in the PRogramming of Intergenerational Stress Mechanisms pregnancy cohort based in Boston and New York City. Women completed the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-2 (STAXI-2), Life Stressor Checklist-Revised (LSC-R), and Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) in pregnancy. We used modified Poisson regression to estimate the relative risk (RR) of PTB (1) in relation to continuous STAXI-2 Anger Expression-In (AX-I) and Anger Expression-Out (AX-O) subscales, (2) in relation to continuous LSC-R scores, and (3) between women who did versus did not experience childhood sexual, emotional, and/or physical abuse in six separate models. We also examined interactions between maternal anger expression and lifetime stress/childhood trauma. Younger, single, minority women had higher outward anger expression and inward anger suppression. AX-I and AX-O scores were higher among women who experienced abuse in childhood and who had higher lifetime stress. Maternal lifetime stress, outward anger expression, and inward anger suppression were associated with an increased risk of PTB in separate models; however, stress, trauma and anger did not interact to further increase the risk of PTB. Higher anger expression and higher lifetime stress experiences were associated with an increased risk of PTB among a racially and ethnically diverse sample of pregnant women.

ACS Style

Whitney Cowell; Lilly Taing; Talia Askowitz; Michelle Bosquet Enlow; Michele R. Hacker; Rosalind J. Wright. Associations of Maternal Trait Anger Expression and Lifetime Traumatic and Non-traumatic Experiences with Preterm Birth. Maternal and Child Health Journal 2020, 25, 635 -644.

AMA Style

Whitney Cowell, Lilly Taing, Talia Askowitz, Michelle Bosquet Enlow, Michele R. Hacker, Rosalind J. Wright. Associations of Maternal Trait Anger Expression and Lifetime Traumatic and Non-traumatic Experiences with Preterm Birth. Maternal and Child Health Journal. 2020; 25 (4):635-644.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Whitney Cowell; Lilly Taing; Talia Askowitz; Michelle Bosquet Enlow; Michele R. Hacker; Rosalind J. Wright. 2020. "Associations of Maternal Trait Anger Expression and Lifetime Traumatic and Non-traumatic Experiences with Preterm Birth." Maternal and Child Health Journal 25, no. 4: 635-644.

Journal article
Published: 08 August 2020 in Environmental Research
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Telomere length (TL) predicts the onset of cellular senescence and correlates with longevity and age-related disease risk. While telomeres erode throughout life, adults display fixed ranking and tracking of TL, supporting the importance of the early environment in determining inter-individual variability across the life course. Given their guanine-rich structure, telomeres are highly susceptible to oxidative stress (OS). We examined maternal metal exposure, which can induce OS, in relation to newborn TL. We also considered the modifying role of maternal antioxidant intake. Analyses included 100 mother-newborn pairs enrolled in the Boston and New York City-based PRogramming of Intergenerational Stress Mechanisms (PRISM) pregnancy cohort. We measured As, Ba, Cd, Ni, and Pb in maternal late-pregnancy urine by ICP-MS and quantified relative leukocyte TL (rLTL) in cord blood using qPCR. We used Weighted Quantile Sum (WQS) regression to estimate the metal mixture - rLTL association and conducted repeated holdout validation to improve the stability of estimates across data partitions. We examined models stratified by high (>median) versus low (≤median) maternal antioxidant intake, estimated from Block98 Food Frequency Questionnaires. We considered urinary creatinine, week of urine collection, maternal age, and race/ethnicity as covariates. In adjusted models, urinary metals were inversely associated with newborn rLTL (βWQS = −0.50, 95% CI: −0.78, −0.21). The top metals contributing to the negative association included Ba (weight: 35.4%), Cd (24.5%) and Pb (26.9%). In models stratified by antioxidant intake, the significant inverse association between metals and rLTL remained only among mothers with low antioxidant intake (low: βWQS = −0.92, 95% CI: −1.53, −0.30; high: βWQS = −0.03, 95% CI: −0.58, 0.52). Results were similar in unadjusted models. Relative LTL was shorter among newborns of mothers with higher exposure to metals during pregnancy. Higher maternal antioxidant intake may mitigate the negative influence of metals on newborn rLTL.

ACS Style

Whitney Cowell; Elena Colicino; Eva Tanner; Chitra Amarasiriwardena; Syam S. Andra; Valentina Bollati; Srimathi Kannan; Harish Ganguri; Chris Gennings; Robert O. Wright; Rosalind J. Wright. Prenatal toxic metal mixture exposure and newborn telomere length: Modification by maternal antioxidant intake. Environmental Research 2020, 190, 110009 .

AMA Style

Whitney Cowell, Elena Colicino, Eva Tanner, Chitra Amarasiriwardena, Syam S. Andra, Valentina Bollati, Srimathi Kannan, Harish Ganguri, Chris Gennings, Robert O. Wright, Rosalind J. Wright. Prenatal toxic metal mixture exposure and newborn telomere length: Modification by maternal antioxidant intake. Environmental Research. 2020; 190 ():110009.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Whitney Cowell; Elena Colicino; Eva Tanner; Chitra Amarasiriwardena; Syam S. Andra; Valentina Bollati; Srimathi Kannan; Harish Ganguri; Chris Gennings; Robert O. Wright; Rosalind J. Wright. 2020. "Prenatal toxic metal mixture exposure and newborn telomere length: Modification by maternal antioxidant intake." Environmental Research 190, no. : 110009.

Preprint content
Published: 29 July 2020
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Background: Fetal sex is known to modify the course and complications of pregnancy, with recent evidence of sex-differential fetal influences on the maternal immune and endocrine systems. In turn, heightened inflammation and surges in reproductive hormone levels associated with pregnancy and parturition have been linked with the development of perinatal depression. Here, we examined whether there is an association between fetal sex and maternal depression assessed during the prenatal and postnatal periods.Methods: The study included two multi-ethnic, prospective pregnancy cohorts that enrolled women from prenatal clinics in the Northeastern United States between 2001 and 2018. Maternal depressive symptoms were measured during the prenatal and postnatal periods using the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (EPDS) and newborn sex was reported by the mother following delivery. We used logistic regression to examine associations between fetal sex and maternal depressive symptoms (EPDS>10) during the prenatal period only, postnatal period only, or both periods versus no depressive symptoms during either period. We considered both unadjusted models and models adjusted for a core set of sociodemographic and lifestyle variables. Results: In adjusted models conducted using PRISM data (N=528), women pregnant with a male versus female fetus had significantly greater odds of depressive symptoms during the postnatal period compared to women without depressive symptoms during either period (odds ratio [OR] = 5.24, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.93, 14.21). The direction of results was consistent in the ACCESS cohort, although the findings did not reach statistical significance (OR = 2.05, 95% CI = 0.86, 4.93). Significant associations were not observed in either cohort among women with prenatal symptoms only or women with prenatal and postnatal symptoms. Conclusions: Male fetal sex was associated with the onset of depressive symptoms during the postnatal period.

ACS Style

Whitney Cowell; Elena Colicino; Talia Askowitz; Farida Nenton; Rosalind Wright. Fetal sex and maternal postpartum depressive symptoms: findings from two prospective pregnancy cohorts. 2020, 1 .

AMA Style

Whitney Cowell, Elena Colicino, Talia Askowitz, Farida Nenton, Rosalind Wright. Fetal sex and maternal postpartum depressive symptoms: findings from two prospective pregnancy cohorts. . 2020; ():1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Whitney Cowell; Elena Colicino; Talia Askowitz; Farida Nenton; Rosalind Wright. 2020. "Fetal sex and maternal postpartum depressive symptoms: findings from two prospective pregnancy cohorts." , no. : 1.

Research article
Published: 13 July 2020 in Developmental Psychobiology
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Maternal hypothalamic‐pituitary‐adrenal axis activity may prenatally program sex‐specific stress‐response pathways. We investigated associations between maternal cortisol during pregnancy and infant parasympathetic responsivity to stress among 204 mother–infant pairs. Cortisol indices included 3rd trimester hair cortisol, as well as diurnal slope and area under the curve, derived from saliva samples collected during pregnancy. Mother–infant dyads participated in the Repeated Still‐Face Paradigm (SFP‐R) at age 6 months. We calculated respiration‐adjusted respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSAc), an indicator of parasympathetic activation, from infant respiration and cardiac activity measured during the SFP‐R. We used multivariable linear mixed models to examine each cortisol index in relation to infant RSAc and investigated sex differences using cross‐product terms. Diurnal cortisol indices were not associated with RSAc. There was no association between hair cortisol and baseline RSAc. However, hair cortisol was associated with sex‐specific changes in RSAc over the SFP‐R such that, among girls, parasympathetic withdrawal was reduced with increasing prenatal exposure to cortisol. Consistently higher levels of prenatal cortisol exposure may lead to dampened parasympathetic responsivity to stress during infancy, particularly among girls. Maternal hair cortisol may be particularly valuable for studying the effects of prenatal cortisol exposure on infant autonomic reactivity.

ACS Style

Whitney Cowell; Jennifer E. Khoury; Carter R. Petty; Helen E. Day; Brian E. Benítez; Molly K. Cunningham; Stefan M. Schulz; Thomas Ritz; Rosalind J. Wright; Michelle Bosquet Enlow. Integrated and diurnal indices of maternal pregnancy cortisol in relation to sex‐specific parasympathetic responsivity to stress in infants. Developmental Psychobiology 2020, 63, 350 -363.

AMA Style

Whitney Cowell, Jennifer E. Khoury, Carter R. Petty, Helen E. Day, Brian E. Benítez, Molly K. Cunningham, Stefan M. Schulz, Thomas Ritz, Rosalind J. Wright, Michelle Bosquet Enlow. Integrated and diurnal indices of maternal pregnancy cortisol in relation to sex‐specific parasympathetic responsivity to stress in infants. Developmental Psychobiology. 2020; 63 (2):350-363.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Whitney Cowell; Jennifer E. Khoury; Carter R. Petty; Helen E. Day; Brian E. Benítez; Molly K. Cunningham; Stefan M. Schulz; Thomas Ritz; Rosalind J. Wright; Michelle Bosquet Enlow. 2020. "Integrated and diurnal indices of maternal pregnancy cortisol in relation to sex‐specific parasympathetic responsivity to stress in infants." Developmental Psychobiology 63, no. 2: 350-363.

Journal article
Published: 11 May 2020 in Placenta
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Murine models provide evidence that maternal stress during pregnancy can influence placenta morphology and function, including altered expression of genes involved in the maintenance and progression of pregnancy and fetal development. Corresponding research evaluating the impact of maternal stress on placental gene expression in humans is limited. We examined maternal stress in relation to placental expression of 17 candidate genes in a community-based sample. Participants included 60 mother-newborn pairs enrolled in the PRogramming of Intergenerational Stress Mechanisms pregnancy cohort based at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. Placentas were collected immediately following delivery and gene expression was measured using a qPCR-based platform. Maternal experiences of traumatic and non-traumatic stress were measured using the Life Stressor Checklist-Revised (LSC-R) administered during a mid-pregnancy interview. We used multivariable linear regression to examine associations between LSC-R scores and expression of each gene in separate models in the sample overall and stratified by fetal sex. Higher maternal stress was associated with significantly increased placental expression of the nutrient sensor gene OGT, the glucose transporter gene GLUT1, and the hypoxia sensor gene HIF3A. In models stratified by fetal sex, significant associations remained only among males. This study represents one of the most comprehensive examinations of maternal lifetime traumatic and non-traumatic stress in relation to placental gene expression in human tissue. Our findings support that maternal stress may alter sex-specific placental expression of genes involved in critical developmental processes.

ACS Style

Whitney Cowell; Maya Deyssenroth; Jia Chen; Rosalind J. Wright. Maternal stress in relation to sex-specific expression of placental genes involved in nutrient transport, oxygen tension, immune response, and the glucocorticoid barrier. Placenta 2020, 96, 19 -26.

AMA Style

Whitney Cowell, Maya Deyssenroth, Jia Chen, Rosalind J. Wright. Maternal stress in relation to sex-specific expression of placental genes involved in nutrient transport, oxygen tension, immune response, and the glucocorticoid barrier. Placenta. 2020; 96 ():19-26.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Whitney Cowell; Maya Deyssenroth; Jia Chen; Rosalind J. Wright. 2020. "Maternal stress in relation to sex-specific expression of placental genes involved in nutrient transport, oxygen tension, immune response, and the glucocorticoid barrier." Placenta 96, no. : 19-26.

Journal article
Published: 31 May 2019 in Brain, Behavior, and Immunity
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Identifying modifiable risk factors for neuropsychological correlates of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in early childhood can inform prevention strategies. Prenatal inflammatory states, such as maternal asthma and other atopic disorders, have been increasingly linked to enhanced risk for neurobehavioral disorders in children, with some studies suggesting sex-specific effects. To assess the association between maternal active asthma and/or atopy in the antenatal period and child symptoms of ADHD during mid-childhood and, given the male-bias in ADHD prevalence, to examine modifying effects of child sex. The study sample includes 250 maternal-child pairs enrolled in the Boston-based Asthma Coalition on Community, Environment and Social Stress (ACCESS) pregnancy cohort. We defined antenatal active atopy based on maternal report of current asthma, allergic rhinitis or atopic dermatitis during and/or in the year before pregnancy. When children were approximately 6 years old, mothers completed a battery of standardized child behavior rating scales designed for evaluating symptoms of ADHD. We used multivariable quantile regression to assess the relations between maternal antenatal atopy and symptoms of ADHD among children. In adjusted models, maternal atopy was significantly associated with greater risk for ADHD behaviors, as indicated by scores on the Conners’ Parent Rating Scale-Revised ADHD index (β=3.32, 95% CI: 0.33, 6.32). In sex-stratified models this association was stronger among girls (5.96, 95% CI= 0.95, 10.96) compared to boys (-2.14, 95% CI=-5.75, 1.45, p-interaction=0.01). Among girls, we observed a similar finding for the Behavior Assessment System for Children 2nd Edition Parent Rating Scale Attention Problems subscale (β=7.77, 95% CI= 1.57, 13.97). Results from other outcome subscales were similar in magnitude and direction, however, associations did not reach statistical significance at the p=0.05 level. Maternal antenatal active atopy may be a risk factor for the development of ADHD-like symptoms, especially among girls.

ACS Style

Whitney J. Cowell; David C. Bellinger; Robert Wright; Rosalind J. Wright. Antenatal active maternal asthma and other atopic disorders is associated with ADHD behaviors among school-aged children. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity 2019, 80, 871 -878.

AMA Style

Whitney J. Cowell, David C. Bellinger, Robert Wright, Rosalind J. Wright. Antenatal active maternal asthma and other atopic disorders is associated with ADHD behaviors among school-aged children. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. 2019; 80 ():871-878.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Whitney J. Cowell; David C. Bellinger; Robert Wright; Rosalind J. Wright. 2019. "Antenatal active maternal asthma and other atopic disorders is associated with ADHD behaviors among school-aged children." Brain, Behavior, and Immunity 80, no. : 871-878.