# Inflammatory trajectories across pregnancy: Investigating novel markers of risk for postpartum depression

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF DENVER (COLORADO SEMINARY) · 2022 · $184,343

## Abstract

Project Summary
Postpartum depression (PPD) is the most common form of psychiatric illness occurring after childbirth, affecting
nearly 18% of women globally and contributing to suffering and impaired functioning in both mothers and their
children. To elucidate factors that contribute to PPD risk, the current project seeks to test the role of inflammatory
markers across pregnancy in the prediction of postpartum depressive symptoms. Specifically, reflecting recent
theoretical work on the complex and shifting role of the immune system during pregnancy, the current project
will utilize a prospective longitudinal design of 165 pregnant women to examine dynamic trajectories of
inflammatory markers across pregnancy in the prediction of PPD symptoms and diagnosis at one- and two-
months postpartum. Through repeated assessments across the prenatal and postpartum periods, by considering
potentially curvilinear trajectories of inflammatory markers instead of single assessments, and by examining a
range of immunological markers simultaneously, we will overcome past roadblocks to progress and more closely
mirror the alternating immunological priorities of pregnancy. Leveraging stored plasma samples collected prior
to the COVID-19 pandemic as part of a parent R01 study of depressive symptoms during pregnancy
(MH109662), this work will characterize trajectories of key depression-relevant inflammatory markers across
each trimester of pregnancy in women with and without elevated prenatal depressive symptoms (Aim 1) and
examine whether inflammatory trajectories prospectively predict depressive symptoms and PPD diagnosis at
one- and two-months postpartum (Aim 2). As well, it will probe the predictive specificity of depression-relevant
inflammatory markers (versus shifts in Th1 and Th2 cytokines or inflammatory markers implicated in other
psychiatric disorders) and will explore whether inflammatory profiles in pregnancy differentially relate to certain
PPD symptoms (Aim 3). Through this methodologically rigorous approach, we will be poised to conduct strong
tests of directional associations between prenatal inflammation and postpartum depressive symptoms and to
identify inflammatory parameters that may serve as risk biomarkers. In doing so, insights from this project will
be critical for advancing future hypotheses to elucidate the precise neurobiological cascades that account for
links between inflammation and postpartum depressive symptoms, with the ultimate goal to identify novel factors
to target in the prevention or treatment of postpartum depression.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10408046
- **Project number:** 5R21MH124026-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF DENVER (COLORADO SEMINARY)
- **Principal Investigator:** Elysia Poggi Davis
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $184,343
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-05-20 → 2024-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10408046

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10408046, Inflammatory trajectories across pregnancy: Investigating novel markers of risk for postpartum depression (5R21MH124026-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10408046. Licensed CC0.

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