ArticleJournal of clinical medicine2019
Prenatal and Postnatal Hair Steroid Levels Predict Post-Partum Depression 12 Weeks after Delivery.
Article in Journal of clinical medicine, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 48 citations in OpenAlex.
- A systematic review of associations between hormone levels in hair and peripartum depression.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2025Pooled it
- A systematic review of hair cortisol during pregnancy: Reference ranges and methodological considerations.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2020Pooled it
- Associations Between Morning Salivary and Blood Cortisol Concentrations in Individuals With Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome: A Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2020Pooled it
- Serum Serotonin Levels and Postpartum Depression in Women with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: A Prospective Psychobiological Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Low Pregnancy Cortisol and Infant Socioemotional Problems: The Mediating Role of Postpartum Depressive Symptoms.Developmental psychobiology · 2026Article
- Associations Between Self-Esteem and Postpartum Depression and Anxiety: A Cross-Sectional Study Using the Rosenberg Scale in Romanian Women.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Application of Treatment Response Biomarkers from Major Depression to Perinatal Depression.Journal of personalized medicine · 2025Review
- Prepartal Stress, Prepartal and Postpartal Hair Glucocorticoid Concentrations, and Symptoms of Postpartum Depression 3 Days and 12 Weeks After Delivery.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2025Article
- The Concurrent and Longitudinal Relationship between Perinatal Sleep Difficulties and Depression in a Large Sample of High-Risk Women in South Africa.Maternal and child health journal · 2024Article
- Exploring the burden of postpartum depression in urban Bangladesh: Prevalence and its associations with pregnancy-related factors from a cross-sectional study.Health science reports · 2024Article
- No evidence for relationship between paternal post-partum depressive symptoms and testosterone or cortisol in first-time fathers.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Within-person associations of cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone, and testosterone hair hormone concentrations and psychological distress in pregnant and non-pregnant women.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2023Article
- The Value of HPA Axis Hormones as Biomarkers for Screening and Early Diagnosis of Postpartum Depression: Updated Information About Methodology.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2022Review
- Putative Mental, Physical, and Social Mechanisms of Hormonal Influences on Postpartum Sexuality.Current sexual health reports · 2021Article
- Within-person changes of cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone, testosterone, estradiol, and progesterone in hair across pregnancy, with comparison to a non-pregnant reference group.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2021Article
- Quantification of Hair Corticosterone, DHEA and Testosterone as a Potential Tool for Welfare Assessment in Male Laboratory Mice.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2020Article
- Health Anxiety Predicts Postponing or Cancelling Routine Medical Health Care Appointments among Women in Perinatal Stage during the Covid-19 Lockdown.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
- Do Physical Activity and Personality Matter for Hair Cortisol Concentration and Self-Reported Stress in Pregnancy? A Pilot Cross-Sectional Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
- Current Pharmacological Treatment Options for Central Serous Chorioretinopathy: A Review.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Review
- Assessing Mothers' Postpartum Depression From Their Infants' Cry Vocalizations.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundWithin three to six months after delivery, 13%-19% of women suffer from post-partum depression (PPD), understood as a dysfunctional adaptation to the postpartum condition and motherhood. In the present cross-sectional study, we compared the hair steroid levels of women 12 weeks before and after delivery and with or without PPD.
methodThe present study was a cross-sectional study conducted twelve weeks after delivery. At that time, 48 women (mean age: 25.9 years) with PPD and 50 healthy controls (mean age: 25.2 years) completed questionnaires on depressive symptoms. Further, at the same time point, 6 cm lengths of hair strands were taken, providing samples of hair steroids 12 weeks before and 12 weeks after delivery in order to analyze hair steroids (cortisol, cortisone, progesterone, testosterone, and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA)).
resultsCompared to those of women without PPD, hair steroid levels (cortisol, cortisone, progesterone) were significantly lower in women with PPD both before and after delivery. Lower prenatal cortisone and progesterone levels predicted higher depression scores 12 weeks after delivery. Lower prenatal levels of cortisol and progesterone and higher levels of DHEA, and postnatal lower levels of cortisol, cortisone, and progesterone, along with higher levels of DHEA predicted PPD-status with an accuracy of 98%.
conclusionsPPD is associated with blunted hair cortisol, cortisone, and progesterone secretions both pre- and postpartum. Such blunted steroid levels appear to reflect a stress responsivity that is less adaptive to acute and transient stressors. It follows that prenatally assessed low hair cortisol and progesterone levels, along with high DHEA levels, are reliable biomarkers of post-partum depression 12 weeks after delivery.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.