Dehydroepiandrosterone in nails of infants: a potential biomarker of intrauterine responses to maternal stress

Abstract

Easily accessible biomarkers for fetal stress biology are lacking. We here explore whether quantification of major fetal steroids, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) or DHEA sulfate (DHEAS), with liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry in infant nails is a tool to assess fetal stress biology in response to maternal stressful life events during pregnancy. Sufficient nail (≥ 1 mg) was available from 80 infants (93% of those providing samples). The concentration of DHEA, but not DHEAS, was increased in infants of mothers with stressful life events during pregnancy (DHEA: F₁,₄₁=6.105, P=0.018; DHEAS: F₁,₇₇=0.767, P=0.384). DHEA concentrations were not related to maternal stress before pregnancy (F₁,₄₁=0.010, P=0.922). Infant nail DHEA may be a fetal biological correlate of intrauterine exposure to maternal stress. The method promises the first non-invasive retrospective biomarker for intrauterine stress biology, opening new ways for research and clinical applications in fetal medicine, endocrinology, obstetrics, gynecology, and for understanding the developmental origins of health and disease.