Persistent Effects of Antenatal Synthetic Glucocorticoids on Endocrine Stress Reactivity From Childhood to Adolescence

Antenatal synthetic glucocorticoid (sGC) therapy has been identified as a potent programming factor of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. We previously observed significantly increased cortisol stress responses in 6- to 11-year-old, term-born children exposed to antenatal sGCs compared with controls. These findings call for longitudinal follow-up studies to evaluate long-term effects of antenatal sGCs, given that adolescence is...