Study Reveals Potential Biomarkers for Postpartum Depression Risk
Blood levels of neuroactive steroids during the third trimester of pregnancy may predict increased risk of postpartum depression, offering possibility for early intervention.
Essential Reads: Neurosteroids, Allopregnanolone and Vulnerability to Depression in Women
This article focuses on how GABA-ergic neurotransmitter systems may modulate the interaction between reproductive steroid and sex steroid systems, and sheds light on the role allopregnanolone may play in medicating vulnerability to depression.Â
Brexanolone: Related to Allopregnanolone, Effective for the Treatment of Postpartum Depression
In 2015, we first reported on SAGE-547 (SAGE Therapeutics), a new medication for the treatment of severe postpartum depression. Â SAGE-547, now called brexanolone, is an allosteric modulator of GABAA receptors. Â This drug was initially under [...]
SAGE-547: A Novel Treatment for Severe Postpartum Depression?
SAGE-547 (SAGE Therapeutics) is a new drug, an allosteric modulator of GABAA receptors, which is currently under investigation for the treatment of refractory seizure disorders. Â It turns out that SAGE-547 may also be useful for [...]
A Mouse Model of Postpartum Depression
Maguire and Mody's report, GABAA R Plasticity during Pregnancy: Relevance to Postpartum Depression, in the July 2008, Neuron, provides evidence that an abnormal Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABAA) receptor subunit in pregnant mice may be a useful model for postpartum depression. The report describes how GABAA receptors, specifically, the delta-subunit-containing GABA receptor, are a preferred target for neurosteroids. They designed a study to identify functional changes in these receptors during pregnancy and postpartum and then looked at possible behavioral correlates in the mice.Â