Objective: To explore the correlation between domestic violence in pregnancy and plasma glutamate (Glu), gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and cortisol levels in neonates.
Methods: By cross-sectional survey and domestic violence (DV) interview with Abuse Assessment Survey (AAS), 56 abused pregnant women were screened and 107 non-abused pregnant women served as controls. Blood from umbilical vein of neonatal were collected immediately after delivery. Levels of Glu, GABA in plasma were assayed by using high performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection on samples. Levels of plasma cortisol were detected by with immunoradiometric assay. All variables of the two groups were compared. Chi-square, t/z-test, Spearman correlation, liner regression analysis were adopted.
Results: In the DV group, there were 49 women (87.5%) experiencing psychological abuse and 2 (3.6%) physical abuse during pregnancy. Moreover, 29 women (51.8%) experienced sexual abuse in the period of pregnancy. By comparison, our study showed higher levels of plasma Glu, GABA and cortisol in neonates of the DV group than those of the controls [(1509 +/- 339) pmol/L vs (811 +/- 270) pmol/L, (1460 +/- 369) pmol/L vs (707 +/- 296) pmol/L, (491 +/- 87) microg/L vs (392 +/- 108) microg/L, t = 14.326, t = 14.138, t = 5.916, P < 0.001]. Spearman correlation analysis showed significantly positive correlation between severity of psychological abuse and levels of Glu, GABA and cortisol (r = 0.705, 0.696, 0.425, P < 0.01) and positive correlation between the severity of sexual abuse and levels of Glu, GABA and cortisol (r = 0.471, 0.424, 0.274, P < 0.01).
Conclusion: Domestic violence in pregnancy may alter the levels of some excitatory and inhibitory amino acids and change the endocrinic function in neonates.