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Lower blood levels of a biomarker called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) have been associated with depression in multiple studies, mainly in non-pregnant adults. Now, in a study published in the journal  Psychoneuroendocrinology , research from The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center found that BDNF levels change during pregnancy, and can cause depression in the mother and low birth weight in the baby. "Our research shows BDNF levels change considerably across pregnancy and provide predictive value for depressive symptoms in women, as well as poor fetal growth. It's notable that we observed a significant difference in BDNF in women of different races," said Lisa M. Christian, an associate professor of psychiatry in the Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research at Ohio State's Wexner Medical Center and principal investigator of the study. Researchers took blood serum samples during and after pregnancy from 139 women and observed that BDNF leve...

According to the World Health Organisation WHO, 350 million people worldwide are affected by depression. But the mental state is not all that is affected, however, and depression can also compromise the body. "Meanwhile there is little doubt that depression is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases," explains Karl-Heinz Ladwig. He is group leader at the Institute of Epidemiology II at the Helmholtz Zentrum München, professor of psychosomatic medicine at TUM's Klinikum rechts der Isar as well as scientist of DZHK. "The question now is: What is the relationship between depression and other risk factors like tobacco smoke, high cholesterol levels, obesity or hypertension -- how big a role does each factor play?" In order to examine this question, Ladwig and his team analyzed data from 3,428 male patients between the ages of 45 and 74 years and observed their development over a period of ten years. "The work is based on a prospective population-based da...

The researchers found that a protein called JNK when active, represses the generation of new neurons in the hippocampus, a part of the brain that controls emotions and learning. By inhibiting JNK solely in newly generated nerve cells in the hippocampus, the researchers were able to alleviate anxiety and depressive behaviour in mice. This previously unknown mechanism brings fresh insight on how the brain works to regulate mood and indicates that inhibitors of JNK, such as the one used here, can provide a new avenue for anti-depressant and anxiolytic drug development. Depression and anxiety are highly prevalent disorders and represent one of the largest causes of disability worldwide. These results are important as many patients do not respond to current treatments and it has long been recognised that new mechanistic understanding of these disorders would be necessary to in order to identify drugs for treatment resistant depression. The research was funded by the EU-funded Marie Cu...

Antidepressant use throughout being pregnant has the potential to intrude with serotonin consumption by the fetus, which may end up in malformations , say investigators. Credit score: © Photographee.eu / Fotolia A brand new Université de Montréal examine within the British Medical Journal reveals that antidepressants prescribed to pregnant girls may improve the prospect of getting a child with beginning defects. The chance -- 6 to 10 %, versus three to five % in girls who don't take the medication -- is excessive sufficient to benefit warning of their use, particularly since, usually, they're solely marginally efficient, the examine says. "In being pregnant, you are treating the mom however you are fearful concerning the unborn youngster, and the profit must outweigh the danger," stated the examine's senior creator, Anick Bérard, a professor at UdeM's College of Pharmacy and researcher at its affiliated kids's hospital, CHU Sainte-Just...