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Effects of sex and early maternal abuse on adrenocorticotropin hormone and cortisol responses to the corticotropin-releasing hormone challenge during the first 3 years of life in group-living rhesus monkeys

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 January 2010

Mar M. Sanchez ,
Kai Mccormack ,
Alison P. Grand ,
Richelle Fulks ,
Anne Graff  and
Dario Maestripieri
Mar M. Sanchez
Affiliation:
Emory University
Kai Mccormack
Affiliation:
Emory University Spelman College
Alison P. Grand
Affiliation:
Emory University
Richelle Fulks
Affiliation:
Emory University
Anne Graff
Affiliation:
Emory University
Dario Maestripieri*
Affiliation:
Emory University University of Chicago
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Dario Maestripieri, University of Chicago, 5730 South Woodlawn Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637; E-mail: [email protected].
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Abstract

In this study we investigated the development of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis in 21 group-living rhesus monkeys infants that were physically abused by their mothers in the first few months of life and in 21 nonabused controls. Cortisol and adrenocorticotropin hormone (ACTH) responses to a corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) challenge were assessed at 6-month intervals during the subjects' first 3 years of life. Abused infants exhibited greater cortisol responses to CRH than controls across the 3 years. Abused infants also exhibited blunted ACTH secretion in response to CRH, especially at 6 months of age. Although there were no significant sex differences in abuse experienced early in life, females showed a greater cortisol response to CRH than males at all ages. There were no significant sex differences in the ACTH response to CRH, or significant interactions between sex and abuse in the ACTH or cortisol response. Our findings suggest that early parental maltreatment results in greater adrenocortical, and possibly also pituitary, responsiveness to challenges later in life. These long-term alterations in neuroendocrine function may be one the mechanisms through which infant abuse results in later psychopathologies. Our study also suggests that there are developmental sex differences in adrenal function that occur irrespective of early stressful experience. The results of this study can enhance our understanding of the long-term effects of child maltreatment as well as our knowledge of the development of the HPA axis in human and nonhuman primates.

Type
Regular Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 22 , Issue 1 , February 2010 , pp. 45 - 53
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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