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Updated: Jun 7, 2026

Using a Murine Model of Psychosocial Stress in Pregnancy as a Translationally Relevant Paradigm for Psychiatric Disorders in Mothers and Infants
Published on: June 13, 2021
Depressive symptoms during pregnancy: impact on neuroendocrine and neonatal outcomes
Sheila Marcus1, Juan F Lopez, Susan McDonough
1Psychiatry Department, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. smmarcus@umich.edu
Objective:
To explore the interplay of maternal depressive symptoms on the infant limbic-hypothalamic-pituitary axis (LHPA) and neurological development.
Design:
Pregnant women were monitored for depressive symptoms using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) at 28, 32, and 37 weeks of gestation and at delivery. A mixture growth curve analysis divided the women into three risk groups: low/stable, intermediate, and high/increasing depression based on BDI scores. The infant neuroendocrine system was examined using cord blood for adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) and cortisol measurements. Two-week-old infants were examined using Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Neurobehavioral Scale (NNNS).
Results:
Infants born to women of the high/increasing depression group had significant ACTH elevation at birth. On NNNS examination, these infants were more hypotonic and habituated to auditory and visual stimuli.
Conclusion:
When compared to non-depressed women, maternal depressive symptoms, even in the absence of major depressive disorder, appeared to facilitate a different developmental pathway for the infant LHPA and early neurological development.
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