An expert shares findings about the placenta’s unexpected influence on a mother’s mental health, which could revolutionize the understanding of pregnancy-related anxiety and depression.
- When cortisol concentrations are high, one isoform in the placenta exhibits a surprising response to maternal stress: inflammation that “can act directly on many parts of the brain.”
- This could explain the complex association between stress and inflammation in pregnant women.
- Additionally, researchers have discovered that the placenta functions differently depending on the sex of the fetus.
“Currently, we are interested in how the placenta may influence maternal stress, anxiety and depression.” This is what maternal health specialist Professor Vicki Clifton recently said in an interview with Genomic Press and published in Brain Medicine.
Mental health: an inflammatory response in the placenta that can “act on the brain” of the mother
With her team, she, as part ofa studydiscovered that the placenta has 13 distinct isoforms of the glucocorticoid receptor in the placenta, a variant of which is expressed in the presence of maternal stress, anxiety and depression, which activates an inflammatory response in the placenta when high concentrations of cortisol. “This new finding is therefore surprising and challenges the traditional understanding of stress responses during pregnancy,” said the specialist. Indeed, while most glucocorticoid receptors generally suppress inflammation, this newly identified variant appears to enhance it.
“This work may explain why high levels of stress and inflammation may coincide. Increased inflammation in women with anxiety and depression may act directly on many parts of the brain and exacerbate symptoms. We hypothesize that the placenta plays a role in contributing to increased inflammation during pregnancy and, in turn, influencing the mother’s brain,” she added.
Placental functions specific to the sex of the fetus identified
The authors also highlighted crucial differences between male and female fetuses, which result in placental functions specific to the sex of the fetus. “Currently, we do not consider the sex of the fetus in obstetrics.” Yet this research suggests that maternal physiology varies depending on fetal sex, opening new possibilities for personalized interventions in pregnancy care. “I would like to see sex-specific medicine for pregnancy complications, for the care of premature babies, and for the care of newborns,” pointed out Vicki Clifton.
Now, scientists are studying how placental inflammation can influence the mother’s brain function and potentially exacerbate symptoms of anxiety and depression during pregnancy.
