Lower allopregnanolone during pregnancy predicts postpartum depression: An exploratory study

Abstract

Current evidence is mixed on the role of progesterone and its metabolites in perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. We measured second and third trimester (T2 and T3) progesterone (PROG) and allopregnanolone (ALLO) levels by ELISA and postpartum depression (PPD) by clinician interview (DSM-IV criteria) in 60 pregnant women with a prior diagnosis of a mood disorder. Methods included multivariate and logistic regression with general linear mixed effect models. We found that, after adjustment, every additional ng/mL of T2 ALLO resulted in a 63% (95% CI 13% to 84%, p=0.022) reduction in the risk of developing PPD. Our findings extend previous work connecting ALLO and depression within pregnancy, and indicate that the relationship between pregnancy ALLO and PPD is worth further exploration in a larger sample.

Keywords: Anxiety; Depression; Hormones; Postpartum; Pregnancy; Reproductive.

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosures: On behalf of all other authors, the corresponding author states that there is no additional conflict of interest.

Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Figures

Figure 1

ALLO and PPD. Logit transformed smooth line graph showing the log of the odds of developing clinical postpartum depression on the y axis and ALLO level in ng/mL on the x axis (p=.022).