Table 1. Summary of Maternal Stress Effects on the Placenta.
| Species | Stress type | Stress timing | Sex | Placenta phenotype | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Human | Anxiety | 36 wpc | ? | ↑ Umbilical artery resistance, redistribution of fetal blood flow | Sjöström et al, 1997 |
| Human | Anxiety | 28–36 wpc | ? | ↑ Uterine artery resistance | Teixeira et al, 1999 |
| Human | Anxiety | 20 wpc | ? | No association with uterine artery resistance | Kent et al, 2002 |
| Human | Life stress | 30 wpc | ♂ and ♀ | ↑ Placenta weight | Tegethoff et al, 2010 |
| Human | Anxiety and depression | Second to third trimester | ♂ and ♀ | ↑ SLC6A4, trending↑SLC6A2 and 11βHSD2 | Ponder et al, 2011 |
| Human | Anxiety | Term | ♂ and ♀ | ↓ 11βHSD2 | O'Donnell et al, 2012 |
| Human | Depression | Term | ♂ and ♀ | Trending↓11βHSD2 | O'Donnell et al, 2012 |
| Human | Depression | Term | ♂ and ♀ | ↓ MAOA in villous trophoblasts | Blakeley et al, 2013 |
| Human | Anxiety | Term | ♂ and ♀ | Trending↓MAOA in villous trophoblasts | Blakeley et al, 2013 |
| Human | Depression | Pregnancy | ♂ and ♀ | ↑ Methylation of glucocorticoid receptor | Conradt et al, 2013 |
| Human | Anxiety | Pregnancy | ♂ and ♀ | ↑ Methylation of 11βHSD2 | Conradt et al, 2013 |
| Mouse | Chronic variable (1/day) | 1–7 dpc | ♂ and ♀ | ↑ IGF2 in ♂ and ♀,↓11βHSD in ♀ | Pankevich et al, 2009 |
| Mouse | Chronic variable (1/day) | 1–7 dpc | ♂ and ♀ | ♂:↑PPARα, IGFBP1, GLUT4, HIF3α ♀:↓PPARα,↑DNMT1 | Mueller and Bale, 2008 |
| Mouse | Chronic variable (1/day) | 1–7 dpc | ♂ and ♀ | ↓ OGT in ♂ and ♀ | Howerton et al, 2013 |
| Mouse | Chronic variable (1/day) | 1–7 dpc | ♂ and ♀ | ♂:↑FASL, pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL6, IL1B, IL12RA, PTGS2), chemokines (CCR7, CCL5, CXCL10), cell surface antigens (H2-EB1, PTPRC), and endothelial molecules (EDN1, SELP). ♀:↑FASL,↓CCL2. | Bronson and Bale, 2014 |
| Rat | Restraint (3/day) | 10–21 dpc | ♂ | ↓ GLUT1 and 11βHSD2,↑GLUT3 and GLUT4 | Mairesse et al, 2007 |
| Rat | Social defeat (1/day)+restraint (1/day) | 5–20 dpc | ? | ↑ 11βHSD2 in low, but not high anxiety rat strains | Lucassen et al, 2009 |
| Rat | Restraint (1/day) | 14–20 dpc | ? | ↓ 11βHSD2,↑DNMT3a,↑11βHSD2 methylation | Jensen Peña et al, 2012 |
Abbreviations: 11βHSD, 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 2; DNMT, DNA methyltransferase; dpc, days post conception; GLUT, glucose transporter; HIF, hypoxia-inducible factor; IGF, insulin-like growth factor; IGFBP, insulin-like growth factor binding protein; IL, interleukin; MAOA, monoamine oxidase A; OGT, O-GlcNAc transferase; PPAR, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor; PTGS, prostaglandin; SLC6A4, serotonin transporter; SLC6A2, norepinephrine transporter; wpc, weeks post conception.
In human studies, stress timing refers to the gestational age of maternal stress assessment (wpc). In rodent studies, stress timing indicates the gestational age at maternal stress administration (dpc),