Thank you, Gail Bagwell of Nationwide Children's Hospital, for alerting us to this news!
From Medscape Medical News...
"Higher Levels of pCRH in Mid-Pregnancy Linked to Postpartum Depression"
Caroline Cassels
February 11, 2009 — Women with higher levels of a hormone produced by the placenta midway through pregnancy appear to be at significantly increased risk for postpartum depression (PPD), new research suggests.
Investigators at the University of California, Irvine found that women who developed PPD symptoms had higher levels of placental corticotropin-releasing hormone (pCRH) at 25 weeks' gestation, compared with their counterparts who did not develop the disorder (P < .001).
"If these findings can be replicated, this research could have strong clinical implications, potentially allowing clinicians to routinely screen for postpartum depression, which is very common and can have serious adverse effects on the mother as well as her infant," principal investigator Ilona S. Yim, PhD, told Medscape Psychiatry.
Confirmation of these results, she added, could mean that pCRH would be the first early biomarker for PPD.
The study was published in the February issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.
The full article can be found here from www.medscape.com
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