Is perinatal depression familial?

The Influence of genetic factors on peripartum depression: A systematic review

“…We observed differences regarding the influence of genetic factors according to the time of onset of depressive symptoms. These findings were replicated in studies using both population (Forty et al, 2006;Murphy-Eberenz et al, 2006) and molecular approaches (Binder et al, 2010;Comasco et al, 2011a;Comasco et al, 2011b;Doornbos et al, 2009;Fasching et al, 2012;Lewis et al, 2012;Pinsonneault et al, 2013;Xie and Innis, 2009). Furthermore, we found that the influence of genetic factors became more consistent when methodological variations among studies were considered, such as the assessment period, interactions with environmental factors, and the tools used to detect depressive symptoms.…”

“…(Treloar et al, 1999) In an assessment of 148 childbearing women and their families, it was shown that perinatal depressive episodes in the mother can predict perinatal depressive episodes in the daughter. Furthermore, the risk prediction of perinatal depressive episodes was greater for depressive episodes that began during the postpartum period (OR ¼3.96) than for those that emerged during pregnancy (OR¼ 2.28) (Murphy-Eberenz et al, 2006). Forty et al (2006) analyzed 45 pairs of parous women with family aggregations of recurrent depressive disorders.…”

Elevated serum copper levels in women with a history of post-partum depression

“…The authors suggested that the findings may be related to a physiological trait that predisposed them to developing the disorder. Additional evidence for an inherited trait comes from family studies showing a clustering of cases of PPD in certain families [16].…”

State and trait anxiety as a psychopathological phenomenon correlated with postpartum depression in a Romanian sample: a pilot study

“…Moreover, serotonin transporter gene polymorphisms were found to be associated with this pathology, and therefore this genetic mechanism could be considered as the common biological substrate underlying both types of anxiety and depressive symptoms [9,10]. Other presumed biological factors that could be involved in the etiopathogenesis of postpartum depression are: the occurrence of antithyroid antibodies caused by increased immunity reactions (immunologic rebound) correlated with low levels of cortisol once the placenta was eliminated (placental source), GABA-ergic dysfunction, diminished plasmatic level of b-endorphins, decreased insulinemia with consequently diminished transport of tryptophan, etc [11][12][13][14][15].…”