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. 2011 Oct;73(8):656-63.
doi: 10.1097/PSY.0b013e31822fc277. Epub 2011 Sep 23.

Psychiatric symptoms and proinflammatory cytokines in pregnancy

Emma Robertson Blackmore  1 , Jan A Moynihan, David R Rubinow, Eva K Pressman, Michelle Gilchrist, Thomas G O'Connor
Affiliations

Psychiatric symptoms and proinflammatory cytokines in pregnancy

Emma Robertson Blackmore et al. Psychosom Med. 2011 Oct.

Abstract

Objective: Clinical studies suggest that psychiatric symptoms, particularly depression, anxiety, and trauma, may be associated with inflammation, as indexed by proinflammatory cytokines. Such a link may be especially significant in pregnancy and may shed additional light on the etiology of perinatal mood disorders.

Methods: We prospectively observed 145 women selected from a community obstetric clinic serving a primarily low-income, high-psychosocial risk population. Women without evidence of medical high-risk pregnancies were screened (including psychiatric and trauma histories) and then assessed in detail (e.g., mood symptoms) at approximately 18 and 32 weeks' gestation. Blood was drawn to measure key proinflammatory markers, interleukin 6 and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α). Data on pregnancy and obstetric outcome were derived from medical records.

Results: There was considerable stability of cytokine levels within individuals and a significant mean increase across pregnancy observed for interleukin 6 (p < .001) and TNF-α (p < .001). History of trauma was associated with significantly elevated TNF-α levels (F(1,135) = 4.43, p < .05), controlling for psychosocial and obstetric covariates. In contrast, elevated measures of depression and anxiety were unrelated to proinflammatory cytokines (p > .1). Exploratory analyses indicated that neither psychiatric symptoms nor proinflammatory cytokines predicted birth weight, gestational age, or obstetric complications.

Conclusions: These findings suggest that antecedent trauma may be associated with persistently elevated TNF-α levels during pregnancy. The evidence that a generalized proinflammatory state was associated with symptoms of depression or anxiety in pregnant women was not found.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mean levels of TNF-alpha across gestation by trauma exposure status. Standard error bars are shown.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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