Moment-to-moment bidirectional associations between human milk glucocorticoids and infant behavior

IF 3.4 2区医学 Q2 ENDOCRINOLOGY & METABOLISM

Psychoneuroendocrinology Pub Date : 2026-05-01 Epub Date: 2026-02-17 DOI:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2026.107790

Nina Bruinhof , Roseriet Beijers , Carolina de Weerth

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

Human milk composition varies between and within mothers and is impacted by both maternal and infant factors. Glucocorticoids in milk may potentially influence infant development. For example, elevated cortisol concentrations in milk have been associated with more infant negative affect. However, evidence supporting the role of human milk glucocorticoids on infant behavior is inconsistent. The current preregistered study investigated bidirectional associations between diurnal milk glucocorticoids and infant crying and sleep. We hypothesized that 1) higher cortisol and cortisone concentrations would be related to more infant crying and less infant sleep, and 2) more infant crying and less infant sleep would be related to higher cortisol and cortisone concentrations.

Methods

At 6 weeks postpartum, healthy mothers (N = 109) collected three milk samples: in the morning, afternoon, and evening. During this same day, mothers kept a logbook on infant crying and sleep. We calculated the duration of crying and sleeping over three time intervals: 1) the complete interval between each milk sample, 2) the 1.5 h after each breast milk sample, and 3) the 1.5 h before each milk sample. Next, we performed multilevel models to assess the bidirectional associations between cortisol and cortisone milk concentrations and infant crying and sleep.

Results

Against our hypotheses, we found that higher cortisol and cortisone milk concentrations were related to more infant sleep 1.5 h after a milk sample. Moreover, more infant sleep 1.5 h before a milk sample was related to higher cortisol and cortisone milk concentrations. No associations were found between milk glucocorticoids and infant crying.

Conclusion

This study is the first to assess moment-to-moment associations between milk glucocorticoids and infant behavior and broadens our understanding of the role of human milk composition on infant behavior and vice versa.

查看原文本刊更多论文

人乳糖皮质激素与婴儿行为之间的即时双向关联。

背景：母乳成分在母亲之间和母亲体内是不同的，并受到母亲和婴儿因素的影响。牛奶中的糖皮质激素可能潜在地影响婴儿的发育。例如，牛奶中皮质醇浓度升高与婴儿的负面影响有关。然而，支持母乳糖皮质激素对婴儿行为的作用的证据是不一致的。目前的预登记研究调查了日乳糖皮质激素与婴儿哭泣和睡眠之间的双向关联。我们假设1)较高的皮质醇和可的松浓度与更多的婴儿哭泣和更少的婴儿睡眠有关，2)更多的婴儿哭泣和更少的婴儿睡眠与较高的皮质醇和可的松浓度有关。方法：健康母亲（N = 109）于产后6周分别于上午、下午和晚上采集三次乳样。在同一天，母亲们记录了婴儿哭泣和睡眠的日志。我们通过三个时间间隔来计算哭泣和睡眠的持续时间：1)每次母乳取样之间的完整间隔，2)每次母乳取样后的1.5 h，以及3)每次母乳取样前的1.5 h。接下来，我们进行了多层次模型来评估皮质醇和可的松牛奶浓度与婴儿哭泣和睡眠之间的双向关联。结果：与我们的假设相反，我们发现高皮质醇和可的松牛奶浓度与婴儿睡眠时间1.5 h相关。此外，更多的婴儿睡眠1.5 h前牛奶样品与较高的皮质醇和可的松牛奶浓度有关。没有发现牛奶糖皮质激素和婴儿哭闹之间的联系。结论：本研究首次评估了牛奶糖皮质激素与婴儿行为之间的即时联系，拓宽了我们对母乳成分对婴儿行为的作用的理解，反之亦然。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Psychoneuroendocrinology 医学-精神病学

CiteScore

7.40

自引率

8.10%

发文量

268

审稿时长

66 days

期刊介绍： Psychoneuroendocrinology publishes papers dealing with the interrelated disciplines of psychology, neurobiology, endocrinology, immunology, neurology, and psychiatry, with an emphasis on multidisciplinary studies aiming at integrating these disciplines in terms of either basic research or clinical implications. One of the main goals is to understand how a variety of psychobiological factors interact in the expression of the stress response as it relates to the development and/or maintenance of neuropsychiatric illnesses.