ArticleBrain and behavior2020
The role of kynurenine pathway and kynurenic aminotransferase alleles in postpartum depression following cesarean section in Chinese women.
Article in Brain and behavior, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- Risk factors for postpartum depression after cesarean section: a systematic review and meta-analysis.PeerJ · 2026Pooled it
- Tryptophan-Kynurenine Pathway Metabolites in Women Undergoing Caesarean Delivery.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Kynurenine pathway dysregulation in major depressive disorder: the convergence of excitotoxicity, neuroinflammation, and oxidative stress.Journal of neuroinflammation · 2026Review
- Contextual Regulation of the Kynurenine Pathway and Its Relevance for Personalized Psychiatry.Journal of personalized medicine · 2026Review
- Psychedelic therapy and postpartum depression: priorities and prospects.Therapeutic advances in psychopharmacology · 2026Review
- Biomarkers of reproductive psychiatric disorders.The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science · 2025Review
- Blood transcriptomic signatures associated with depression, or the risk for depression, in pregnant women from the Psychiatry Research And Motherhood - Depression (PRAM-D) study.Translational psychiatry · 2025Article
- The Intersection between Tryptophan-Kynurenine Pathway Metabolites and Immune Inflammation, Hormones, and Gut Microbiota in Perinatal Depression.Actas espanolas de psiquiatria · 2024Review
- Genetic Markers Associated with Postpartum Depression: A Review.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2024Review
- Risk Factors for Postpartum Depression Based on Genetic and Epigenetic Interactions.Molecular neurobiology · 2023Review
- Inflammatory pathophysiological mechanisms implicated in postpartum depression.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2022Review
- Review
- Kynurenine Pathway of Tryptophan Metabolism in Neuropsychiatric Disorders: Pathophysiologic and Therapeutic Considerations.Clinical psychopharmacology and neuroscience : the official scientific journal of the Korean College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2020Review
- The role of kynurenine pathway and kynurenic aminotransferase alleles in postpartum depression following cesarean section in Chinese women.Brain and behavior · 2020Article
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesA growing body of data indicates that the kynurenine pathway may play a role in the pathogenesis of postpartum depressive symptoms (PDS). Kynurenic aminotransferase (KAT) is an important kynurenine pathway enzyme, catalyzing kynurenine (KYN) into kynurenic acid (KYNA). This study investigated as to whether genetic variations in KAT are associated with PDS.
methodsA cohort of 360 Chinese women scheduled to undergo cesarean delivery was enrolled into this study. PDS was determined by an Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) score ≥ 13. A total of eight KAT single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were genotyped and their association with PDS investigated. Serum concentrations of KYN, KYNA, and quinolinic acid (QUIN) in women with or without PDS were also measured. This allowed the determination of the KYNA/KYN ratio, which is reflective of KAT activity.
resultsPostpartum depressive symptoms incidence was 7.2%. Advanced maternal age, lower education, antenatal depression, and postpartum blues were risk factors for PDS (p < .05). Women with PDS, versus non-PDS, had heightened KYN levels one day prior to surgery (ante-d1) (p < .05), as well as having significantly lower KYNA and higher QUIN levels at postnatal day three (post-d3) (p < .05). Women with, versus without, PDS also had a significantly higher QUIN/KYNA ratio at post-d3 (p < .05). KAT activity was significantly lower in women with, versus without, PDS at ante-d3 (p < .05). No significant association was evident between the KAT SNPs and PDS.
conclusionOur data support a role for alterations in the kynurenine pathway in the pathogenesis of PDS, although no significant association was found for the eight tested KAT SNPs with PDS.
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