This study investigated whether maternal consumption of glycyrrhizin in licorice was associated with altered HPAA function in children. The children were derived from a random, populationbased birth cohort initially comprising 1049 infants born in 1998 in Helsinki, Finland, and their mothers. Eligible infants were healthy singletons born at 35-42 weeks gestation. Children were categorized into three exposure-level groups according to maternal consumption of glycyrrhizin in licorice: high (>500 mg/week), moderate (250-499 mg/week) and zero-low (0-249 mg/week). Diurnal salivary cortisol and salivary cortisol were measured in 321 children (mean age=8.1, SD=0.3 years) during administration of the Trier Social Stress Test for Children (TSST-C). In comparison to the zero-low exposure group, children in the high exposure group had 19.2% higher salivary cortisol awakening peak, 33.1% higher salivary cortisol awakening slope, 15.4% higher salivary cortisol awakening area under the curve (AUC), 30.8% higher baseline TSST-C salivary cortisol levels, and their salivary cortisol levels remained high throughout the TSST-C protocol (P<0.05 for all). These effects appeared dose-related. These findings lend support to prenatal ‘programming’ of HPAA function by overexposure to glucocorticoids. (Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2010 Nov;35(10):1587-93.) PMID: 20510523.
