Inflammation and kynurenine pathway dysregulation in post-partum women with severe and suicidal depression

Publication date: Available online 5 November 2019Source: Brain, Behavior, and ImmunityAuthor(s): Eric Achtyes, Sarah A. Keaton, LeAnn Smart, Amanda R. Burmeister, Patrick L. Heilman, Stanislaw Krzyzanowski, Madhavi Nagalla, Gilles J. Guillemin, Martha L. Escobar Galvis, Chai K. Lim, Maria Muzik, Teodor Postolache, Richard Leach, Lena BrundinAbstractDepression during pregnancy and the post-partum is common, with severe cases resulting in suicidal behavior. Despite the urgent and unmet medical need, the biological underpinnings of peri-partum depression remain unclear. It has been suggested that it is triggered by dynamic changes of the immune system during pregnancy and at delivery. Therefore, we investigated whether a pro-inflammatory status in plasma, together with changes in the kynurenine pathway activity, is associated with the development of severe depression and suicidal behavior in the post-partum. Our cross-sectional study targets a unique, understudied population in which the pronounced severity of symptoms required hospitalization.We analyzed plasma IL-1β, IL-2, IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α, tryptophan, serotonin, kynurenine, nicotinamide, quinolinic- and kynurenic acids in post-partum women diagnosed with peripartum onset depression (PPD) and healthy controls (n=165). We assessed depression severity using the Edinburgh Perinatal Depression Scale and suicidality using the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale.We found that increased plasma IL-6 and IL-8 and reductions of s...
Source: Brain, Behavior, and Immunity - Category: Neurology Source Type: research