Roles of Inflammation and Depression in the Development of Gestational Diabetes

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this review was to critically assess the available data regarding associations between inflammation and symptoms of depression among perinatal women, and to explore whether there is support for the hypothesis that inflammation associated with depression can represent a precipitating insult for the development of gestational diabetes, a known inflammatory morbidity of pregnancy. Methods: Primary data papers that explored associations between inflammatory biomarkers and depressive symptoms in perinatal women were obtained via targeted searches of PubMed and Google Scholar, and via citations within relevant data papers and review articles. Results: Twenty primary data papers were found that attempted to associate levels of inflammatory biomarkers with depressive symptomatology in the perinatal period. Results from these papers were heterogeneous and did not describe a reproducible inflammatory profile of perinatal depression. Conclusions: Depression in the perinatal period is a common disorder; however, available data do not indicate that there is a specific inflammatory picture associated with perinatal depression. We suggest that perinatal depression may be a heterogeneous construct, and that inflammation may be relevant to it in the context of other inflammatory morbidities of pregnancy. There is some circumstantial support for the hypothesis that inflammation associated with depression may contribute to risk for gestational diabetes, but as yet, no direct tests of this hypothesis have been published.