The Heritability of Postpartum Depression (original) (raw)
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Postpartum depression: A systematic review of the genetics involved
World journal of psychiatry, 2015
Postpartum depression is one of the most prevalent psychopathologies. Its prevalence is estimated to be between 10% and 15%. Despite its multifactorial etiology, it is known that genetics play an important role in the genesis of this disorder. This paper reviews epidemiological evidence supporting the role of genetics in postpartum depression (PPD). The main objectives of this review are to determine which genes and polymorphisms are associated with PPD and discuss how this association may occur. In addition, this paper explores whether these genes are somehow related to or even the same as those linked to Major Depression (MD). To identify gaps in the current knowledge that require investigation, a systematic review was conducted in the electronic databases PubMed, LILACS and SciELO using the index terms "postpartum depression" and "genetics". Literature searches for articles in peer-reviewed journals were made until April 2014. PPD was indexed 56 times with gen...
Distinct Genetic Profiles in Postpartum Depression With Different Trajectory of Illness
2020
BackgroundPostpartum depression (PPD) is a common and highly heritabledisorder in the postnatal period of new mothers. The development of PPD is shown to affectneurodevelopment in children and recent evidence suggests thatthe trajectory of PPDisalso associated with children’s neurodevelopment and mental conditions. Thus, early identification and intervention for individuals at high risk of PPD are urgently needed.Additionally, it is not clear whether genetic factors affect thetrajectory of PPD. Therefore, using a polygenic risk score (PRS) approach, we investigated if PRS for depression (Depression-PRS) and bipolar disorder (Bipolar-PRS) are associated with the development and clinical course of PPD.Methods Usingrecent large genome-wide association studies(GWAS) of depression and bipolar disorder as discovery cohorts, we calculatedDepression-PRS and Bipolar-PRS in each individual. Then, we investigated the possible association between Depression-PRS and Bipolar-PRS with the developm...
Genome-Wide Linkage and Follow-Up Association Study of Postpartum Mood Symptoms
American Journal of Psychiatry, 2009
Objective-Family studies have suggested that postpartum mood symptoms might have a partly genetic etiology. The authors used a genome-wide linkage analysis to search for chromosomal regions that harbor genetic variants conferring susceptibility for such symptoms. The authors then fine-mapped their best linkage regions, assessing single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for genetic association with postpartum symptoms. Method-Subjects were ascertained from two studies: the NIMH Genetics Initiative Bipolar Disorder project and the Genetics of Recurrent Early-Onset Depression. Subjects included women with a history of pregnancy, any mood disorder, and information about postpartum symptoms. In the linkage study, 1,210 women met criteria (23% with postpartum symptoms), and 417 microsatellite markers were analyzed in multipoint allele sharing analyses. For the association study, 759 women met criteria (25% with postpartum symptoms), and 16,916 SNPs in the regions of the best linkage peaks were assessed for association with postpartum symptoms. Results-The maximum linkage peak for postpartum symptoms occurred on chromosome 1q21.3-q32.1, with a chromosome-wide significant likelihood ratio Z score (Z LR) of 2.93 (permutation p=0.02). This was a significant increase over the baseline Z LR of 0.32 observed at this locus among all women with a mood disorder (permutation p=0.004). Suggestive linkage was also found on 9p24.3-p22.3 (Z LR =2.91). In the fine-mapping study, the strongest implicated gene was HMCN1 (nominal p=0.00017), containing four estrogen receptor binding sites, although this was not region-wide significant. Conclusions-This is the first study to examine the genetic etiology of postpartum mood symptoms using genome-wide data. The results suggest that genetic variations on chromosomes 1q21.3-q32.1 and 9p24.3-p22.3 may increase susceptibility to postpartum mood symptoms.
Association study of 44 candidate genes with depressive and anxiety symptoms in post-partum women
Journal of Psychiatric Research, 2010
The post-partum period is a time of extreme vulnerability for a whole spectrum of psychiatric disorders. Delivery may be considered an important risk factor in genetically susceptible women. Five hundred and eight SNPs in 44 genes at candidate pathways putatively related to mood changes after delivery were genotyped in a multicenter cohort of 1804 women from Spain. Participants completed two scales at 2–3 days, 8 weeks, and 32 weeks post-partum, the Edinburgh Post-partum Depression Scale (EPDS) and the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Those women who scored 9 or more on EPDS were evaluated for major depression using the Diagnostic Interview for Genetics Studies (DIGS) adapted for post-partum depression. Association with major depression was assessed using likelihood ratio tests under a codominant genotype model. Association with scale scores was tested using linear mixed models to take into account repeated measures over time. Two intronic SNPs, one at the serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4) and another at dopa decarboxylase (DDC), were significantly associated to STAI anxiety scores after multiple testing correction (nominal P = 0.0000513 and 0.000097, respectively). In addition, post hoc analysis at the unphased haplotype level using nominal significant SNPs revealed an association with a combination of three SNPs at protein kinase C, beta (PRKCB) with major depression, significant after multiple testing correction (nominal global P = 0.0001596). In conclusion, we detected a role of SLC6A4 in mood changes after stressful events, and revealed new putative associations involving DDC and PRKCB. Therefore, these genes deserve further investigation to confirm these results.
Postpartum depression symptoms
Psychiatric Genetics, 2011
Objective Postpartum depression (PPD) is an under diagnosed and under treated mood disorder, with negative impact on both the mother and the infant's health. The aim of this study is to examine whether genetic variations in the monoaminergic neurotransmitter system, together with environmental stressors, contribute to the development of PPD symptoms.
Applying polygenic risk scores to postpartum depression
Archives of Women's Mental Health, 2014
The etiology of major depressive disorder (MDD) is likely to be heterogeneous, but postpartum depression (PPD) is hypothesized to represent a more homogenous subset of MDD. We use genome-wide SNP data to explore this hypothesis. We assembled a total cohort of 1,420 self-report cases of PPD and 9,473 controls with genome-wide genotypes from Australia, The Netherlands, Sweden and the UK. We estimated the total variance attributable to genotyped variants. We used association results from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortia (PGC) of bipolar disorder (BPD) and MDD to create polygenic scores in PPD and related MDD data sets to estimate the genetic overlap between the disorders. We estimated that the percentage of variance on the liability scale explained by common genetic variants to be 0.22 with a standard error of 0.12, p=0.02. The proportion of variance (R 2) from a logistic regression of PPD case/control status in all Psychiatric Genomic Consortium Major Depressive Disorder Working Group is listed in the Supplementary Material Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article
An association study between the Val66Met polymorphism of the BDNF gene and postpartum depression
Archives of Womens Mental Health, 2010
Postpartum depression disorder (PPD) is a severe illness affecting around 15% of deliveries. Several evidences suggest that PPD is, at least, partially genetic determined. The gene encoding BDNF is a strong candidate for pathogenesis of PPD since that it has been observed decrease of serum BDNF in patients suffering from PPD. The gene encoding BDNF has a polymorphism (Val66Met) that alters the regulated protein secretion; the methionine variant being associated with insufficient secretion compared with the Valine variant. We hypothesized that BDNF gene Val66Met polymorphism could be associated with PPD. We assessed 227 subjects randomly selected who had delivery at a maternity hospital using EPDS. Differences in genotype frequency were calculated by χ 2 test. Logistic Regression Analyses was performed to verify the existence of interaction between biological, psychiatric and environmental variables and PPD. Difference between groups was tested with Student's t test. Tests were two-tailed and results significant when p≤0.05. No difference in BDNF genotype distribution was observed between the depressed and non-depressed women. Educational level, stress during pregnancy, bipolar disorder and anxiety was strongly associated with PPD. We were not able to show an association between BDNF polymorphisms and PPD. Further studies are necessary to both of confirm our results and improve validity of PPD diagnosis.
Neuroscience & Medicine, 2012
Objective: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the association between the 5-HTTLPR and 5-HTTVNTR polymorphisms in the serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4) in Brazilian women with diagnosed postpartum depression (PPD) and the presence of depressive symptoms. Method: The cohort consisted of 128 white women who were characterized based on skin color and morphological characteristics. The Beck Depression Inventory was used to diagnose PPD and to score the depressive symptoms. The 5-HTTLPR and 5-HTTVNTR polymorphisms were analyzed by PCR-based methods. Results: No association was observed between the PPD diagnosis and either the 5-HTTLPR (p = 0.48) or the 5-HTTVNTR (p = 0.77) polymorphism. When the polymorphisms were analyzed together with haplotype data, the analyses demonstrated that women carriers of the L-12/L-12 diplotype have lower Beck Depression Inventory scores than women carrying other diplotypes (p = 0.04). Discussion: Few studies have investigated the association of SLC6A4 polymorphisms with PPD, and the role of 5-HTTLPR and 5-HTTVNTR polymorphisms in PPD susceptibility has not been established to date. Therefore, our findings link the haplotypes of these two variants with depression symptoms, thereby contributing to our understanding of PPD susceptibility.
Mood changes after delivery: role of the serotonin transporter gene
The British Journal of …, 2008
The most likely time for a woman to become depressed is after childbirth. 1 Post-partum depression affects approximately 13% of women. 2,3 Post-partum depression has a great impact on the family and economy, and is considered a major public health problem. There is general agreement that the dramatic physiological changes that occur post-partum increase a woman's vulnerability to depressive symptoms, including post-partum depression. Pregnancy and delivery are accompanied by hormonal changes as well as lower plasma tryptophan levels, both of which are thought to be aetiologically relevant to the mood changes that follow childbirth. Although plasma tryptophan availability is not directly related to mood changes, 8 the brain tryptophan availability index is decreased after delivery and is related to depressive symptoms. 10 The mood-lowering effects of experimental tryptophan depletion are controversial, 11 perhaps because of differences in 5-HTT genotype-tryptophan interaction. In women with previous depressive episodes, 5-HTT genotype may moderate the risk for depressive symptoms after tryptophan depletion. 12,13 If childbirth is considered an environmental factor, there may be a strong pathophysiological link between postpartum mood changes and the genes that moderate 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) signalling.
Influence of 5-HTTLPR polymorphism on postpartum depressive and posttraumatic symptoms
Psychiatric Genetics, 2021
Introduction Postpartum depression (PPD) is a multifactor disorder caused by psychological, social, and also biological factors. 5-HTTLPR polymorphism in the promoter region of serotonin transporter gene seems to influence PPD onset. In this study, we examined the effect of 5-HTTLPR polymorphism on prenatal and postnatal symptoms of depression and posttraumatic stress in women. Methods A longitudinal design with three points-time 1 (32-40 weeks gestation); time 2 (2 or 3 weeks after birth), and time 3 (3 months after birth)-was made. A total of 141 women were recruited during childbirth preparation courses. At time 1, women completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Los Angeles Symptoms Checklist (LASC). At time 2, they fulfilled BDI and Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EDPS), LASC and the Perinatal Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) Questionnaire (PPQ); midwives and nurses collected biological test tubes by blood sampling for the genetic analysis. At time 3, the women were reassessed for BDI, LASC, EDPS, and PPQs. Analysis of variance and moderation analysis were used to correlate genotype and psychological investigations. Results Results showed that, compared with LL/LS genotypes, SS genotype moderated cognitive depressive symptoms onset at T2 and T3. Moreover, this genotype correlated, directly or indirectly, with PTSD postpartum aspects (re-experience, avoidance, and hyperarousal). Discussion Findings revealed that a lower expression of serotonin transporter gene, associated with SS genotype, seems to render women more vulnerable to depressive and PTSD symptoms after childbirth.