Pregnant women can transmit stress through the placenta

(pregnant women) - Pregnant women can transmit the effects of stress (stress) through the placenta.

• In the womb, boys are more sensitive to their stress.

• Can explain why intrauterine stresses and disorders such as autism and schizophrenia are more common in boys.

This effect is caused by a protein that has different effects on the developing brains of boys and girls.

Scientists believe that this may explain the link between stress and congenital congenital disorders such as autism and schizophrenia, which are more common and more severe in boys. .

Almost all the experiences of a woman during pregnancy interact and be transmitted to her fetus, said Dr. Tracy Bale, head of the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine School's US research team. :

"Now we have a sign that this sign appears to signal to the fetus that its mother has been stressed. '

Stress can be transmitted across the placenta to the fetus

Scientists studied female mice exposed to mild pressures such as the smell of foxes or unfamiliar noises during the first week of pregnancy.

They identified an enzyme called OGT that is less present in the placenta of stressed mice, compared to non-stressed mice.

Male mouse fetuses also have lower natural OGT levels than female mouse fetuses.

Further research showed that reducing OGT levels caused changes in more than 370 genes in the brains of mouse fetuses.

Many of these genes play an important role for the extremely necessary neurodevelopmental functions, such as energy use, protein regulation and neuronal connections.

The findings, reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, may be similar to human studies, the researchers said.

The placenta analysis of newborn boys shows evidence of reduced OGT levels.

Results showed that OGT could protect the brain during pregnancy. Boys often have less protein, so when pregnant women are stressed, male fetuses are often at high risk of stress.

"We want to know if we can predict the occurrence of neurodevelopment , " Dr. Bale said.

"If we have a sign of risk, we can combine genetic knowledge to predict whether an individual is ill under certain conditions and care more. to babies at higher risk ".