Effect of Maternal Depression on Brain-derived Neurotrophic Factor Levels in Fetal Cord Blood.

Objective: : We aimed to assess the association between cord blood brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) concentration and maternal depression during pregnancy.

Methods: : A total of 48 pregnant women, admitted for elective caesarean section to Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Konya Research and Training Hospital and Konya Necmettin Erbakan University Meram Medical Faculty, were included in this study. The study group included 23 women diagnosed as having depression during pregnancy and the control group included 25 pregnant women who did not experience depression during pregnancy.

Neuroinflammation in the fetus exposed to maternal obsessive-compulsive disorder during pregnancy: a comparative study on cord blood tumor necrosis factor-alpha levels.

Objective: The relationship between maternal psychiatric disorders and fetal neurodevelopment is unclear. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is relatively frequent during pregnancy. The study aimed to investigate whether maternal OCD during pregnancy affects fetal circulating tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) levels, an important pro-inflammatory cytokine, by comparing cord blood TNF-α levels in newborn infants of women with and without OCD.

Maternal generalized anxiety disorder during pregnancy and fetal brain development: a comparative study on cord blood brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels.

Objectives: The study aimed to investigate whether maternal GAD during pregnancy affects fetal circulating brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which plays important roles in neuronal development, by comparing cord blood BDNF levels in newborn infants of women with and without GAD.

Methods: Study sample included 19 women with GAD and 25 women without any psychiatric disorder. GAD and other psychiatric diagnoses were screened by means of the Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition.