# Project 1: Maternal Prenatal Exposure to Environmental and Psychosocial Stressors and Long-term Risk of Depression

> **NIH NIH P50** · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · 2023 · $263,811

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT--PROJECT 1 
Depression is the leading cause of mental health-related morbidity worldwide, affecting approximately 300 million 
people annually. Depression is nearly twice as prevalent among women than men and multiple individual and 
psychosocial risk factors are associated with risk of depression. Hispanic women in the US have unique risk 
factors for depression and other mental health disorders relative to non-Hispanic women including overcoming 
stress associated with acculturation as well as lower awareness and utilization of mental health care services. 
Traffic-related and ambient air pollutants are potentially modifiable environmental exposures that are known to 
disproportionately impact health disparity populations and have increasingly been implicated in risk of 
depression. Pregnancy is a period of dynamic biological and hormonal fluctuations designed to support fetal 
development that may increase susceptibility to environmental insults and effects on later depression. Despite 
growing evidence of the impact of prenatal air pollution on depressive symptoms in the first few months 
postpartum, there have been no studies on whether exposures during this critical period may increase long-term 
risk of maternal depression. Understanding biological mechanisms that mediate downstream effects of 
environmental exposures may lead to improved treatment approaches and reductions in morbidity associated 
with depression. As primary regulators of gene expression, epigenetic mechanisms, such as microRNA (miRNA), 
may be important mediators of air pollution effects on depression. MiRNA regulate numerous cellular processes, 
including neuroendocrine and inflammatory pathways important in depression pathophysiology. We will 
investigate these mechanisms and the following specific aims in 500 women in the first four postpartum years in 
the MADRES pregnancy cohort—an ongoing cohort of predominantly Hispanic, socioeconomically- 
disadvantaged women in urban Los Angeles. We will (1) investigate the association of prenatal exposures to 
traffic-related and regional air pollution with symptoms of maternal depression in the first four years postpartum 
and examine whether these associations vary by prenatal psychosocial stressors and acculturation factors; (2) 
evaluate whether there is a sustained response at 2 and 4 years postpartum between prenatal air pollution 
exposures and neuroendocrine (cortisol, norepinephrine and epinephrine) and pro-inflammatory markers (IL-6 
and CRP) known to be associated with depression; and (3) determine the role of neuroendocrine and 
inflammatory-related miRNA in prenatal air pollution-related associations in maternal depression in the first four 
years postpartum and test whether they mediate associations between prenatal air pollution and maternal 
depression as well as examine the functional relevance of these miRNA. Results from this study may improve 
policy and treatment approaches to reduc...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10586092
- **Project number:** 5P50MD015705-09
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Theresa M Bastain
- **Activity code:** P50 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $263,811
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2015-09-01 → 2025-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10586092

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10586092, Project 1: Maternal Prenatal Exposure to Environmental and Psychosocial Stressors and Long-term Risk of Depression (5P50MD015705-09). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10586092. Licensed CC0.

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