AUTHOR=Araji Sarah , Griffin Ashley , Kassahun-Yimer Wondwosen , Dixon Laura , Spencer Shauna-Kay , Belk Sheila , Ohaegbulam Gail , Wallace Kedra 

TITLE=No association between perinatal mood disorders and hypertensive pregnancies

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychiatry

VOLUME=Volume 13 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.898003

DOI=10.3389/fpsyt.2022.898003

ISSN=1664-0640

ABSTRACT=Mental health disorders such as  anxiety and /or depression are the most common mental health disorders seen among reproductive aged women and can increase during pregnancy. Many sociodemographic risk factors have been associated with anxiety and/or depression in pregnancy, which can lead to adverse maternal and infant outcomes including the risk of a hypertensive pregnancy. The current study prospectively examined self-reported anxiety, depression and stress in pregnant women without a history of fetal loss or mood disorders beginning at 20-26 weeks. At each study visit, circulating immune factors associated with perinatal mood disorders were measured in blood samples that were collected. A total of 65 women were eligible for data analysis, 26 of which had hypertensive pregnancies. There was not a significant difference in self-reported depression, anxiety or stress between hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and normotensive women.  Black women were more likely to have a hypertensive pregnancy and develop a perinatal mood disorder compared to non-black women. Both the inflammatory cytokines interleukin-17 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha were increased in patients with perinatal mood disorders. However, additional research is needed in a larger sample to truly understand the relationship between these factors along with the underlying etiologies and the associated outcomes.