title: Plasma biopterin levels and depressive state in pregnancy and the early puerperal period.
abstract: Plasma total biopterin and tetrahydrobiopterin levels of 14 normal pregnant and 15 normal puerperal women (within 1 week after delivery) were measured. In the first group, total biopterin levels were already increased (average: 18.2 pmol/ml) in the second trimester and remained high until the early puerperal period. In the second trimester, the ratio of tetrahydrobiopterin to total biopterin levels decreased to 72.3% and even further to 66.1% in the third trimester. This tendency continued until the puerperal period. Compared with the control group (12 healthy nonpregnant women), total biopterin levels increased during pregnancy and the puerperal period (p < 0.001), and the ratio in the third trimester and the early puerperal period decreased (p < 0.001). The depressive state according to Zung's score appeared most markedly in the third trimester with a mean score of 48, and tended to recover to a mean score of 36.2 in the early puerperal period. In this period, a correlation was found between Zung's score and the total biopterin levels (r = 0.80), and the ratio of tetrahydrobiopterin levels to the total biopterin levels (r = -0.92). In the early puerperal period, total biopterin levels were higher in subjects with Zung's scores > or = 36 (p < 0.001); the ratios of this group were lower than those of subjects with Zung's scores <36 (p < 0.001). Plasma biopterin levels in pregnancy and the early puerperal period closely resembled those of patients with mood disorders who show depressive symptoms from a psychoneurological perspective. Therefore, it seems possible that a depressive state in pregnancy and the early puerperal period has the same pathology as depression.
authors.affiliation: Nagoya City University School of Nursing, Nagoya, Japan. izumi@med.nagoya-cu.ac.jp
authors.forename: Izumi
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Omura
authors.forename: Masako
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mizutani
authors.forename: Setsuko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Goto
authors.forename: Ryo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
authors.forename: Tomitsune
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kitagami
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Miura
authors.forename: Tatsuro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ohta
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D001708:Biopterins / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000097:blood*; D019052:Depression, Postpartum / Q000097:blood* / Q000523:psychology; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000097:blood* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000097:blood* / Q000523:psychology*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D001708:Biopterins; C003402:sapropterin