title: Relationship between inflammatory biomarkers and depressive symptoms during late pregnancy and the early postpartum period: a longitudinal study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Perinatal depressive symptoms often co-occur with other inflammatory morbidities of pregnancy. The goals of our study were 1) to examine whether changes in inflammatory markers from the third trimester of pregnancy to 12 weeks postpartum were associated with changes in depressive symptoms; 2) to examine whether third trimester inflammatory markers alone were predictive of postpartum depressive symptoms; and 3) to examine the relationship between inflammatory markers and depressive symptoms during the third trimester of pregnancy and at 12 weeks postpartum.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-three healthy pregnant women were recruited from the Women's Health Concerns Clinic at St. Joseph's Healthcare in Hamilton, Canada. The impact of depressive symptoms on the levels of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), and C-reactive protein (CRP) at the third trimester of pregnancy, at 12 weeks postpartum, and across time was assessed using linear and mixed-model regression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Regression analysis revealed no significant association between depressive symptoms and any of the candidate biomarkers during pregnancy, at 12 weeks postpartum, or over time. Pregnancy depressive symptoms (p > 0.001), IL-6 (p = 0.025), and IL-10 (p = 0.006) were significant predictors of postpartum Edinburgh Perinatal Depression Scale (EPDS) score.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study supports previous reports from the literature showing no relationship between inflammatory biomarkers and depressive symptoms during late pregnancy, early postpartum, or across time. Our study is the first to observe an association between late pregnancy levels of IL-6 and IL-10 and postpartum depressive symptoms. Further studies with larger samples are required to confirm these findings.
authors: McMaster Integrated Neuroscience Discovery and Study (MiNDS), McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.|Women's Health Concerns Clinic, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
authors: William
authors: W
authors: Simpson
authors: McMaster Integrated Neuroscience Discovery and Study (MiNDS), McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.|Women's Health Concerns Clinic, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, Hamilton, ON, Canada.|Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neuroscience, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.|Institute for Medical Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors: Meir
authors: M
authors: Steiner
authors: Women's Health Concerns Clinic, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
authors: Marg
authors: M
authors: Coote
authors: McMaster Integrated Neuroscience Discovery and Study (MiNDS), McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.|Women's Health Concerns Clinic, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, Hamilton, ON, Canada.|Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neuroscience, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
authors: Benicio N
authors: BN
authors: Frey
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis*; D019052:Depression, Postpartum / Q000097:blood*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D016753:Interleukin-10 / Q000097:blood*; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood*; D016014:Linear Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008875:Middle Aged; D049590:Postpartum Period / Q000097:blood* / Q000523:psychology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011263:Pregnancy Trimester, Third / Q000097:blood* / Q000523:psychology; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012016:Reference Values; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D015850:Interleukin-6; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D016753:Interleukin-10; D002097:C-Reactive Protein