Early Life Stress has Impact on Heart Functions

A latest study indicates that early life stress, like the ones experienced by ill newborns, appears to have a great impact on the heart, by affecting its ability to relax and pump oxygen-rich blood.

This study was conducted on rats, where the newborns were separated from their mothers for a few hours each day, and the researchers noticed a drop in the basic heart functions. According to Dr. Catalina Bazacliu, neonatologist at the Medical College of Georgia and Children's Hospital of Georgia at Georgia Regents University, an extra stressor increased the blood pressure.

They noticed that the relaxation and filling rate in the ones separated remained low. The decrease stabilized as the rats reached middle age. In both the control group and the model group, the decrease of the heart functions came naturally with age.

But what surprised the researchers is that the force with which the heart pumped blood never changed, even with additional stressor angiotensin II. They evaluated the heart function with echocardiography.

"We expected the heart's ability to relax and refill to lag behind in our model," Bazacliu said in a press statement. "We believe these babies may be at increased risk for cardiovascular disease and we are working to understand exactly what puts them at risk." 

Dr. Analia S. Loria, assistant research scientist in Pollock's lab and also a co-author, noticed that the blood pressure of those rats that were separated went up with angiotensin II and their heart rate also went up.

Prior to this, there were studies that showed blood vessel variations in the early stress model, including increased contraction and reduced relaxation when similarly stressed.