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. 2025 Dec 1:390:119710.
doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2025.119710. Epub 2025 Jun 18.

Porphyromonas gingivalis capsular K1 serotype IgG seropositivity is associated with moderate-to-severe depressive symptoms during the first trimester of pregnancy

Teodor T Postolache  1 , Qiong Sha  2 , Eric Achtyes  3 , Abhishek Wadhawan  4 , Aline Dagdag  5 , Niel T Constantine  6 , Lisa A Brenner  7 , Maureen E Groer  8 , Yvonne M Edgerly  9 , Janna Volkov  10 , Kuei-Ling Hsu  11 , Joshua Joseph  12 , Andrew J Hoisington  13 , Vivek Thumbigere-Math  14 , Robert E Schifferle  15 , Christopher A Lowry  16 , Robert K Ernst  17 , Richard Leach  18 , Lena Brundin  2 , Mark A Reynolds  19
Affiliations

Porphyromonas gingivalis capsular K1 serotype IgG seropositivity is associated with moderate-to-severe depressive symptoms during the first trimester of pregnancy

Teodor T Postolache et al. J Affect Disord. .

Abstract

Background: Periodontal disease (PD) is a common oral infection that is often exacerbated during pregnancy. Porphyromonas gingivalis (P. gingivalis), a keystone PD pathogen, promotes systemic inflammation, depressive-like behavior in animals, and can translocate to the brain and genital tract. Its capsular antigens (K1-K7) are key virulence factors. We hypothesized that seropositivity to specific P. gingivalis capsular K serotypes is associated with depressive symptoms and systemic inflammation during pregnancy.

Methods: In a prospective cohort of pregnant women (N = 114), depressive symptoms were assessed in each trimester of pregnancy using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Rating Scale (EPDS, ≥13 denoting moderate-to-severe depression symptoms). Plasma IgG antibodies against P. gingivalis K1-K7 serotypes and proinflammatory cytokines were measured. Statistical analyses included Firth's bias-reduced logistic regression and mixed-effects linear models.

Results: Approximately 25 % of participants were seropositive for at least one K serotype. IgG seropositivity to P. gingivalis K1 serotype was significantly associated with moderate-to-severe depressive symptoms during the first trimester (EPDS≥13; P = 0.035). Additionally, aggregated K seropositivity was significantly associated with elevated plasma IL-10 levels during the first trimester (P < 0.05, adjusted for multiple comparisons). Other cytokines were unrelated to P. gingivalis K seropositivity.

Limitations: We did not assess clinical or radiological manifestations of PD, antibodies to non-capsular P. gingivalis antigens, or the presence of other PD pathogens.

Conclusion: These results suggest the importance of integrating IgG K seropositivity (which, in addition to local oral pathogens, may also reflect their distal translocation) with clinical, bacteriological and radiological measures when studying associations between PD and affective dysregulation in pregnancy.

Keywords: Capsular IgG serotypes; K1 IgG serotype; Periodontal disease; Peripartum depression; Porphyromonas gingivalis.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.