TY - JOUR T1 - Chernobyl exposure as stressor during pregnancy and hormone levels in adolescent offspring JF - Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health JO - J Epidemiol Community Health SP - e5 LP - e5 DO - 10.1136/jech.2007.060350 VL - 62 IS - 4 AU - A C Huizink AU - M Bartels AU - R J Rose AU - L Pulkkinen AU - C J P Eriksson AU - J Kaprio Y1 - 2008/04/01 UR - http://jech.bmj.com/content/62/4/e5.abstract N2 - Background: Animal research suggests a programming effect of prenatal stress in the fetal period, resulting in disruptions in behavioural and neuromotor development. Physiological changes that mediate these effects include alterations in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and in testosterone levels. This human study focuses on changes related to these physiological systems after prenatal stress exposure.Methods: We examined the potential effect of prenatal stress associated with the Chernobyl disaster in an ongoing genetic epidemiological study in Finland. One birth cohort of twins (nā€Š=ā€Š121 twin pairs) was exposed in utero to maternal stress, and their saliva cortisol and testosterone levels at age 14 were compared with twins (nā€Š=ā€Š157 twin pairs) born one year later.Results: Cortisol levels in both sexes and testosterone levels among females were significantly elevated after prenatal exposure to maternal stress from the second trimester onwards, compared to reference groups of non-exposed adolescents. Exposure explains 3% of variance (p<0.05) in cortisol levels and 18% of variance in testosterone levels (p<0.001). No significant differences were found for exposure from either first or third trimester onwards.Conclusion: Our results suggest that prenatal exposure to maternal stress in the second trimester of pregnancy may have resulted in prenatal programming of physiological systems relating to cortisol and testosterone levels. ER -