Prenatal mood and anxiety disorders and associated cytokine changes.

Background: We examined whether women with prenatal mood and anxiety disorders would exhibit differential pro- and anti-inflammatory marker trajectories during the prenatal and postpartum periods compared to women without these disorders.

Methods: Approximately 179 pregnant women participated in a longitudinal study conducted in two urban areas. Blood samples for inflammatory markers were collected at six study visits.

Partner relationship quality and IL-6:IL-10 trajectories from pregnancy to a year after-birth.

Background: Inflammatory activity during pregnancy and the postpartum period shifts systematically due to pregnancy progression, delivery, and postpartum recovery. Factors that deregulate inflammatory activity increase the risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes and slower postpartum recovery. The IL-6:IL-10 or TNF-α:IL-10 ratio is potentially one way to capture peripheral inflammatory regulation; higher values indicate that anti-inflammatory IL-10 is less effective at regulating pro-inflammatory TNF-α or IL-6, skewing towards maladaptive pro-inflammatory profiles.

Pregnancy-specific anxiety and gestational length: The mediating role of diurnal cortisol indices.

Background: Preterm birth or shorter gestation is a common adverse pregnancy outcome. Pregnancy-specific anxiety is robustly associated with risk for shorter gestation. Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) dysregulation, indicated by diurnal cortisol index variability [slope, area-under-the-curve (AUC) or cortisol awakening response (CAR)], could mediate associations between pregnancy-specific anxiety and shorter gestation.

Maternal anxiety, depression and stress affects offspring gut microbiome diversity and bifidobacterial abundances.

Uncovering mechanisms underlying fetal programming during pregnancy is of critical importance. Atypical neurodevelopment during the pre- and immediate postnatal period has been associated with long-term adverse health outcomes, including mood disorders and aberrant cognitive ability in offspring. Maternal factors that have been implicated in anomalous offspring development include maternal inflammation and tress, anxiety, and depression.

Anxiety in pregnancy and length of gestation: Findings from the healthy babies before birth study.

Objectives: Anxiety is prevalent in pregnancy and predicts risk of adverse birth outcomes. Many instruments measure anxiety in pregnancy, some of which assess defined as maternal concerns about a current pregnancy (e.g.