Psychiatric Symptoms and Proinflammatory Cytokines in Pregnancy

2011/09/24 by Emma Robertson Blackmore, Jan A. Moynihan, David R. Rubinow +4 · 132 citations
Medicine · Neuroscience · #Anxiety #Depression (economics) #Inflammation #Internal medicine #Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum #Medicine #Mood #Obstetrics #Population #Pregnancy #Pregnancy and Medication Impact #Proinflammatory cytokine #Psychiatry #Psychosocial #Tryptophan and brain disorders

paper · open access · doi:10.1097/psy.0b013e31822fc277

published in Psychosomatic Medicine 73(8), 656-663 (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins)

openalex publication_date 2011/09/24 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01

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.

Citations

• Detection of Postnatal Depression
• Cytokine-Associated Emotional and Cognitive Disturbances in Humans
• Maternal Social Support Predicts Birth Weight and Fetal Growth in Human Pregnancy

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