Genetic Basis of Postpartum Depression

PPD, GABA, and the Thalami

    A recent study from the UNC School of Medicine revealed that 14% of the variability in postpartum depression (PPD) is due to genetic factors/on a genetic basis and also provided a glimpse into the connections PPD has with a variety of pre-existing psychiatric disorders. The basis of PPD symptoms lays with GABAergic neurons in the hypothalamus and thalamus; areas of your brain responsible for regulatory functions (hunger, thirst, thyroid function, etc), and seem to have promising advancements for future PPD research. This data was collected using a genome-wide-association study and compiled data in order to get a bigger glimpse into PPD. Jerry Guintivano, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry at the UNC School of Medicine, was able to identify similarities in the genetic architecture of PPD and major depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, insomnia, and polycystic ovary syndrome, meaning "...PPD symptoms likely occur as a result of the interplay between the same genes involved in these other psychiatric and hormone-related conditions." Furthermore, the research concluded a link between PPD, its genetic architectural siblings, and GABAergic neurons in the hypothalamus and thalamus of the brain: neurons releasing GABA neurotransmitters appear to have a link to PPD and its similar familial connections of disorders. Brexanolone is a common drug used to treat PPD and now researchers are able to see the interconnectedness of Brexanolone and the two regions of the brain, which is promising for additional treatment in the foreseeable future. Due to such a wide study and too few PPD cases, however, the researchers at UNC were unable to identify specific locations on the genome or loci that are consistently similar amongst the data group.

    This study was fascinating to read and it provided an overlap between multiple specialties in biology -- from neuroscience to anatomy to physiology. Women's health is making big strides in the 21st century and I think this article is just another step towards more progress being made. The linkage between hormones and psychiatric disorders seems to be a hot topic, and scientists had avoided looking at female models for a long time due to the "complexity" of female hormones and their interactions with physiological processes in the body. But now, we have more evidence that encourage this research and should make women feel a lot better about the improvements being made and the connections established between the two factors. Furthermore, the researchers had also confirmed that PPD is genetic which is also a huge step as well! This can impact treatment plans for pregnant women and might improve their quality of postpartum treatment if they are better prepared and more aware of their chances for PPD. Nevertheless, this study was so interesting to read about and I love the idea of its medical/pharmaceutical improvements as well. 

LINKS:

1) https://neurosciencenews.com/post-partum-depression-genetics-24968/ 

2) https://news.unchealthcare.org/2023/10/researchers-confirm-postpartum-depression-heritability-home-in-on-treatment-mechanism/ 

Possible Correlation Between Maternal Depression and Gene Expression in Fetuses

        In an article from The Scientist, Chloe Tenn discusses how depression may be correlated with epigenetic changes to the placenta in pregnant women. The connection of maternal depression and stress to the developing fetus has not yet been proven, but is currently under investigation. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) monitored over 300 women during their pregnancies between 2009 and 2013. They used surveys to assess their mental health at six intervals during their pregnancies and compared them to placental tissue samples they collected after delivery. 

     After comparing the data NIH genetic epidemiologists discovered that in their sample of women maternal depression was linked with 16 methylation sites, while stress was linked to another two sites. DNA methylation regulates gene expression, and typically acts to repress gene transcription. Two of the sites that were found to be linked with depression are associated with changes in the expression of ADAM23 and CTDP1 genes. These genes affect neurodevelopment and psychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
       

    Opinion: The sample size of the experiment was quite small, but the reasoning seems sound. Much more research will be needed to come to a conclusion, but depression and stress have an impact on hormones which could lead to epigenetic consequences for children still in utero. 

A Baby Was Born With DNA From 3 People

A technique where the mother's DNA is removed from her egg and then placed inside a donor egg from another woman is called maternal spindle transfer. The egg is then fertilized and evolves into an embryo and is then transferred for pregnancy. A woman who had many failed cycles of IVF was able to give birth to a healthy baby boy, with this technique. According to Dr. Jonathon Tilly, mitochondria plays a key role with the development of embryos and fertilization. An abundance of data gathered suggests that people who have an infertility/ poor egg and embryo condition have mitochondrial dysfunction or deficiency.

I think this is a very interesting topic, many times infertility is blamed on other things such as birth control (which have no proven side affects of this), but a mitochondrial dysfunction/ deficiency makes sense. I also think it is great that there have been successful cases with the spindle transfer technique. I hope this can help many women in the future who have trouble with infertility and seek to have children.



https://time.com/5569057/three-parent-baby-dna/

Related Article:
https://www.newsweek.com/assisted-reproduction-ivf-maternal-spindle-transfer-three-parent-babies-1302044

New non-invasive prenatal genetic screening comes out of clinical study

An article at the Baylor College of Medicine discusses the first commercial noninvasive prenatal gene screening that their genetics team developed in 2017, called PreSeek. The data that was collected during the clinical trials where its accuracy was the main focus. The PreSeek is able to detect several monogenic disorders that are not always picked up by standard prenatal screenings, which helps to provide a better, more through, at the genes of the unborn child. The results that were found during the clinical tests are showing that the non-invasive test are able to provide valuable data for a large amount of common dominant monogenic disorders. The team is currently hoping to make the tests more cost effective and to bring more awareness to the valuable role that non-invasive test have with prenatal care.

I think that tests like PreSeek have the potential to be a valuable asset to prenatal care, as they can provide more information on the genetics of the unborn child that could be life altering to both the parents and future child. Knowing what possible risks that the baby might face, or if there are any major genetic abnormalities that they might have is crucial of the doctors and parents. While current prenatal tests do provide a wealth of information about the genetic makeup of the child, tests like PreSeek help to add even more information that could not be discovered with the normal tests.        

Scientists Can Design ‘Better’ Babies. Should They?

July 25, 2018 marks 40 years since the birth of Louise Brown, the first baby brought into the world by the process of in vitro fertilization. Since then, advancements in genetics have raised moral and ethical concern. For instance, pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, P.G.D, allows future parents to have their embryos tested for the probability of passing down diseases to their offspring. Some say this practice is unethical and interferes with nature. The most recent development in genetics and P.G.D was brought to attention by Dr. Jefferey Steinberg, director of The Fertility Institutes in New York. Dr. Steinberg expanded on the idea of P.G.D by introducing the opportunity to pick the child's gender and increasing their odds of their baby having a specific eye color. Additionally, Mitochondrial transfer allows women who have high odds of having a child with a severe birth defect use their own DNA and have it implanted in another woman's egg to move through the process. This was given a term called "three-parent baby". Furthermore, a gene-editing technology known as Crispr, can snip away a gene mutation. This results in the child not carrying this mutation, ultimately altering the family germ line. Overall, people are worried that "designer" babies will start to exist. More specifically, the wealthy who can afford these procedures could possibly one day chose to have a genius child or an Olympic athlete.

Many fear that this interferes with nature and is unethical. I believe that this can help many people to have a child but do feel there should be a line drawn. I find it interesting that they can pick eye color and gender but I think science should not go too far and interfere with nature.

Link to original article
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More Air Pollution Equals Shorter telomeres

There has been growing evidence that large exposure time to air pollution can result in developing health problems. Such as cancer, heart diseases, and respiratory illnesses. In a study done by JAMA Pediatrics, they have observed that moms that were exposed to air pollution for a longer period of time during pregnancy resulted in their babies having shorter telomeres. A telomere is a region of repetitive DNA at the end of a chromosome which protects the end of the chromosome from deterioration. This study was conducted on 641 newborns whose mothers were exposed to high levels of air pollution. It was determined that these newborns were born with 8.8% shorter telomeres in their cord blood cells and 13.2% shorter telomeres in their placenta cells than those whose mothers were exposed to less pollution.
Air pollution had the strongest impact on the babies when the mothers were exposed during the second trimester. Surprisingly mothers that were exposed to high levels of air pollution during their third trimester resulted in the babies being born with longer telomeres to those whose mothers were exposed to less air pollution. It is not yet clear how these newborns would have benefitted from air pollution that would increase their telomeres. This study indicated that these newborns would age faster throughout their lifetime because of having shorter telomeres. A couple other factors to keep in mind are that air pollution could have not been the only leading cause of for the shortening of the babies telomeres, events such as stress, smoking, violence can have an impact on the baby's development.

http://time.com/4984038/air-pollution-pregnancy-babies-aging/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3370421/