Association between neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio and perinatal depressive symptoms among Chinese women

The prevalence of depression has increased dramatically in the past few decades, and pregnant women are at high risk for depression. It is widely thought that inflammation plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of depression. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the association between the neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), a marker of chronic immune inflammation, and perinatal depressive symptoms.

A cohort study involving 535 pregnant women was conducted based on a prospective birth cohort in Wuhan, China. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) was used to assess antepartum depression (APD) and postpartum depression (PPD) during the second trimester of pregnancy and one month after delivery. The NLR during the second trimester was determined based on a routine blood test. The association between NLR and depressive symptoms was evaluated using logistic regression analysis and restricted cubic spline (RCS) regression.

We found that the prevalence of APD and PPD was 8.4% and 15.1%, respectively. NLR levels were positively associated with APD (OR = 1.52, 95% CI: 1.20--1.91). After adjusting for potential confounders, the OR (95% CI) of APD for the highest NLR quartile was 4.56 (1.58, 13.13) compared with the lowest quartile. No significant association was found between NLR and PPD. RCS regression model analysis indicated a linear correlation between NLR and APD (P for non-linearity = 0.58).

Overall, elevated mid-trimester NLR is independently associated with APD but not PPD.