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. 2011 Feb;34(1):26-34.
doi: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2010.07.002. Epub 2010 Oct 29.

Depressive symptoms during pregnancy: impact on neuroendocrine and neonatal outcomes

Sheila Marcus  1 , Juan F Lopez, Susan McDonough, Michael J Mackenzie, Heather Flynn, Charles R Neal Jr, Sheila Gahagan, Brenda Volling, Niko Kaciroti, Delia M Vazquez
Affiliations

Depressive symptoms during pregnancy: impact on neuroendocrine and neonatal outcomes

Sheila Marcus et al. Infant Behav Dev. 2011 Feb.

Abstract

Objective: To explore the interplay of maternal depressive symptoms on the infant limbic-hypothalamic-pituitary axis (LHPA) and neurological development.

Design: Pregnant women were monitored for depressive symptoms using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) at 28, 32, and 37 weeks of gestation and at delivery. A mixture growth curve analysis divided the women into three risk groups: low/stable, intermediate, and high/increasing depression based on BDI scores. The infant neuroendocrine system was examined using cord blood for adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) and cortisol measurements. Two-week-old infants were examined using Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Neurobehavioral Scale (NNNS).

Results: Infants born to women of the high/increasing depression group had significant ACTH elevation at birth. On NNNS examination, these infants were more hypotonic and habituated to auditory and visual stimuli.

Conclusion: When compared to non-depressed women, maternal depressive symptoms, even in the absence of major depressive disorder, appeared to facilitate a different developmental pathway for the infant LHPA and early neurological development.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Depicts the symptom severity trajectories of the recruited women in each of the 3 groups: high with increasing depressive symptoms, intermediate with stable depressive symptoms and low (no depression) with stable symptoms. Symptoms severity as measured by the BDI is shown on the y axis, with gestation on the x axis.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Depicts a graphic representation of cord blood ACTH and cord blood cortisol obtained from the infants born to the three groups of women (high/increasing depression symptoms, intermediate/stable depression symptoms, low/stable no depression), at the time of birth.
Figure 3
Figure 3
These figures depicts those NNNS summary score variables that were significant, or trended toward significance, when the infants born to women from the three groups were compared at 2 weeks of age.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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