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Published on: October 10, 2025
Causal associations of mood swings with preterm birth: a Mendelian randomization analysis
Yuting Xia1, Jianan Zhang2, Yun Shang1
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Yuncheng Central Hospital Affiliated to Shanxi Medical University, Yuncheng, China.
Background:
Mood swings are associated with an elevated risk of preterm birth. However, the causal relationships between them still remain unclear.
Methods:
We performed a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to clarify the association between mood swings and preterm birth. To investigate the proportion mediated by recognized risk factors, we applied two-step MR mediation analyses. Three regression methods were used in MR analyses and using inverse-variance weighted (IVW) as main method.
Results:
The MR analysis included 373,733 individuals with data on mood swings and 204,913 participants with data on preterm birth. The results demonstrated significant causal effects of mood swings on preterm birth (OR = 1.761, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.151, 2.692). Further mediation analysis indicated hypertension (7.283%, 95% CI: 0.387-15.394%) and high cholesterol (5.012%, 95% CI: 1.302-8.613%) may mediate the causal pathways from mood swings to preterm.
Conclusions:
Mood swings have a notable causal impact on preterm birth, partly mediated by hypertension and high cholesterol.
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