Early life socioeconomic status, chronic physiological stress and hippocampal N-acetyl aspartate concentrations

John McLean; Rajeev Krishnadas; G. David Batty; Harry Burns; Kevin A. Deans; Ian Ford; Alex McConnachie; Agnes McGinty; Jennifer S. McLean; Keith Millar; Naveed Sattar; Paul G. Shiels; Carol Tannahill; Yoga N. Velupillai; Chris J. Packard; Barrie R. Condon; Donald M. Hadley; Jonathan Cavanagh

doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2012.08.013

Early life socioeconomic status, chronic physiological stress and hippocampal N-acetyl aspartate concentrations

John McLean^*, Rajeev Krishnadas, G. David Batty, Harry Burns, Kevin A. Deans, Ian Ford, Alex McConnachie, Agnes McGinty, Jennifer S. McLean, Keith Millar, Naveed Sattar, Paul G. Shiels, Carol Tannahill, Yoga N. Velupillai, Chris J. Packard, Barrie R. Condon, Donald M. Hadley, Jonathan Cavanagh

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

20 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Objective: Early life socioeconomic deprivation has been associated with cognitive and behavioural changes that persist through towards adulthood. In this study, we investigated whether early life socioeconomic status is associated with changes in the hippocampus N-acetyl aspartate (NAA), using the non-invasive technique of magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). Methods: We performed proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H-MRS) of the hippocampus at 3T in 30 adult males, selected from the PSOBID cohort. We conducted multiple regression analysis to examine the relationship between early socioeconomic status (SES) and concentration of N-acetyl-aspartate in the hippocampus. We also examined whether the relationship between these variables was mediated by markers of chronic physiological stress. Results: Greater socioeconomic deprivation was associated with lower hippocampal NAA concentrations bilaterally. The relationship between early life SES and hippocampal NAA concentrations was mediated by allostatic load index - a marker of chronic physiological stress. Conclusions: Greater early life socioeconomic deprivation was associated with lower concentrations of NAA reflecting lesser neuronal integrity. This relationship was mediated by greater physiological stress. Further work, to better understand the biological processes underlying the effects of poverty, physiological stress on hippocampal metabolites is necessary.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	225-230
Number of pages	6
Journal	Behavioural Brain Research
Volume	235
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2012.08.013
Publication status	Published - 1 Dec 2012
Externally published	Yes

Funding

This work was funded by the Glasgow Centre for Population Health , a partnership between NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde , Glasgow City Council and the University of Glasgow , supported by the Scottish Government . The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Keywords

allostatic load
deprivation
hippocampus
N-Acetyl aspartate
socioeconomic status

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10.1016/j.bbr.2012.08.013

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McLean, J., Krishnadas, R., Batty, G. D., Burns, H., Deans, K. A., Ford, I., McConnachie, A., McGinty, A., McLean, J. S., Millar, K., Sattar, N., Shiels, P. G., Tannahill, C., Velupillai, Y. N., Packard, C. J., Condon, B. R., Hadley, D. M., & Cavanagh, J. (2012). Early life socioeconomic status, chronic physiological stress and hippocampal N-acetyl aspartate concentrations. Behavioural Brain Research, 235(2), 225-230. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2012.08.013

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title = "Early life socioeconomic status, chronic physiological stress and hippocampal N-acetyl aspartate concentrations",

abstract = "Objective: Early life socioeconomic deprivation has been associated with cognitive and behavioural changes that persist through towards adulthood. In this study, we investigated whether early life socioeconomic status is associated with changes in the hippocampus N-acetyl aspartate (NAA), using the non-invasive technique of magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). Methods: We performed proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) of the hippocampus at 3T in 30 adult males, selected from the PSOBID cohort. We conducted multiple regression analysis to examine the relationship between early socioeconomic status (SES) and concentration of N-acetyl-aspartate in the hippocampus. We also examined whether the relationship between these variables was mediated by markers of chronic physiological stress. Results: Greater socioeconomic deprivation was associated with lower hippocampal NAA concentrations bilaterally. The relationship between early life SES and hippocampal NAA concentrations was mediated by allostatic load index - a marker of chronic physiological stress. Conclusions: Greater early life socioeconomic deprivation was associated with lower concentrations of NAA reflecting lesser neuronal integrity. This relationship was mediated by greater physiological stress. Further work, to better understand the biological processes underlying the effects of poverty, physiological stress on hippocampal metabolites is necessary.",

keywords = "allostatic load, deprivation, hippocampus, N-Acetyl aspartate, socioeconomic status",

author = "John McLean and Rajeev Krishnadas and Batty, {G. David} and Harry Burns and Deans, {Kevin A.} and Ian Ford and Alex McConnachie and Agnes McGinty and McLean, {Jennifer S.} and Keith Millar and Naveed Sattar and Shiels, {Paul G.} and Carol Tannahill and Velupillai, {Yoga N.} and Packard, {Chris J.} and Condon, {Barrie R.} and Hadley, {Donald M.} and Jonathan Cavanagh",

year = "2012",

month = dec,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1016/j.bbr.2012.08.013",

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McLean, J, Krishnadas, R, Batty, GD, Burns, H, Deans, KA, Ford, I, McConnachie, A, McGinty, A, McLean, JS, Millar, K, Sattar, N, Shiels, PG, Tannahill, C, Velupillai, YN, Packard, CJ, Condon, BR, Hadley, DM & Cavanagh, J 2012, 'Early life socioeconomic status, chronic physiological stress and hippocampal N-acetyl aspartate concentrations', Behavioural Brain Research, vol. 235, no. 2, pp. 225-230. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2012.08.013

TY - JOUR

T1 - Early life socioeconomic status, chronic physiological stress and hippocampal N-acetyl aspartate concentrations

AU - McLean, John

AU - Krishnadas, Rajeev

AU - Batty, G. David

AU - Burns, Harry

AU - Deans, Kevin A.

AU - Ford, Ian

AU - McConnachie, Alex

AU - McGinty, Agnes

AU - McLean, Jennifer S.

AU - Millar, Keith

AU - Sattar, Naveed

AU - Shiels, Paul G.

AU - Tannahill, Carol

AU - Velupillai, Yoga N.

AU - Packard, Chris J.

AU - Condon, Barrie R.

AU - Hadley, Donald M.

AU - Cavanagh, Jonathan

PY - 2012/12/1

Y1 - 2012/12/1

N2 - Objective: Early life socioeconomic deprivation has been associated with cognitive and behavioural changes that persist through towards adulthood. In this study, we investigated whether early life socioeconomic status is associated with changes in the hippocampus N-acetyl aspartate (NAA), using the non-invasive technique of magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). Methods: We performed proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) of the hippocampus at 3T in 30 adult males, selected from the PSOBID cohort. We conducted multiple regression analysis to examine the relationship between early socioeconomic status (SES) and concentration of N-acetyl-aspartate in the hippocampus. We also examined whether the relationship between these variables was mediated by markers of chronic physiological stress. Results: Greater socioeconomic deprivation was associated with lower hippocampal NAA concentrations bilaterally. The relationship between early life SES and hippocampal NAA concentrations was mediated by allostatic load index - a marker of chronic physiological stress. Conclusions: Greater early life socioeconomic deprivation was associated with lower concentrations of NAA reflecting lesser neuronal integrity. This relationship was mediated by greater physiological stress. Further work, to better understand the biological processes underlying the effects of poverty, physiological stress on hippocampal metabolites is necessary.

AB - Objective: Early life socioeconomic deprivation has been associated with cognitive and behavioural changes that persist through towards adulthood. In this study, we investigated whether early life socioeconomic status is associated with changes in the hippocampus N-acetyl aspartate (NAA), using the non-invasive technique of magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). Methods: We performed proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) of the hippocampus at 3T in 30 adult males, selected from the PSOBID cohort. We conducted multiple regression analysis to examine the relationship between early socioeconomic status (SES) and concentration of N-acetyl-aspartate in the hippocampus. We also examined whether the relationship between these variables was mediated by markers of chronic physiological stress. Results: Greater socioeconomic deprivation was associated with lower hippocampal NAA concentrations bilaterally. The relationship between early life SES and hippocampal NAA concentrations was mediated by allostatic load index - a marker of chronic physiological stress. Conclusions: Greater early life socioeconomic deprivation was associated with lower concentrations of NAA reflecting lesser neuronal integrity. This relationship was mediated by greater physiological stress. Further work, to better understand the biological processes underlying the effects of poverty, physiological stress on hippocampal metabolites is necessary.

KW - allostatic load

KW - deprivation

KW - hippocampus

KW - N-Acetyl aspartate

KW - socioeconomic status

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U2 - 10.1016/j.bbr.2012.08.013

DO - 10.1016/j.bbr.2012.08.013

M3 - Article

C2 - 22917526

AN - SCOPUS:84865498642

SN - 0166-4328

VL - 235

SP - 225

EP - 230

JO - Behavioural Brain Research

JF - Behavioural Brain Research

IS - 2

ER -

Early life socioeconomic status, chronic physiological stress and hippocampal N-acetyl aspartate concentrations

Abstract

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Keywords

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