ArticleBMC pregnancy and childbirth2021
Cross-sectional association between vitamin B12 status and probable postpartum depression in Indian women.
Article in BMC pregnancy and childbirth, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 28 citations in OpenAlex.
- A Systematic Review of the Correlation Between Micronutrient Levels and Perinatal Depression.Nutrients · 2025Pooled it
- A sum of its parts: A systematic review evaluating biopsychosocial and behavioral determinants of perinatal depression.PloS one · 2024Pooled it
- Sensory Preferences Influencing the Likelihood That African American Pregnant Women Will Consume Nutrient-Dense, Anti-Inflammatory Foods.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Article
- Social support, self-care agency and self-care behaviors among pregnant women in Thai Binh, Vietnam: A cross-sectional analysis.Public health in practice (Oxford, England) · 2026Article
- Vitamin D and Vitamin BDiseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Homocysteine combined with multi-index screening for pregnancy complications: a narrative review.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Review
- Invisible Links: Associations Between Micronutrient Deficiencies and Postpartum Depression-A Systematic Review.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Prevalence and Determinants of Postnatal Depression in Ernakulam District, India: A Cross-Sectional Study.Cureus · 2024Article
- Associations of methylmalonic acid and depressive symptoms with mortality: a population-based study.Translational psychiatry · 2024Article
- Micronutrient-Associated Single Nucleotide Polymorphism and Mental Health: A Mendelian Randomization Study.Nutrients · 2024Article
- Prenatal metal exposures and childhood gut microbial signatures are associated with depression score in late childhood.The Science of the total environment · 2024Article
- Dietary Vitamin B12 Intake Affects the Association Between Urinary Incontinence and Depression in Women: A Cross-Sectional Study of NHANES 2007-2018.International journal of women's health · 2024Article
- Metformin in Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: To Use or Not to Use, That Is the Question.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- A sum of its parts: A systematic review evaluating biopsychosocial and behavioral determinants of perinatal depression.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2023Article
- Review
- Maternal Mental Health in Late Pregnancy and Longitudinal Changes in Postpartum Serum Vitamin B-12, Homocysteine, and Milk B-12 Concentration Among Brazilian Women.Frontiers in nutrition · 2022Article
- Prevalence and associated risk factors of postpartum depression in India: A comprehensive review.Journal of neurosciences in rural practiceReview
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundVitamin B12 is an essential micronutrient for neurological function, as it leads to the regeneration of methionine from homocysteine, which is precursor of biologically active molecule S-Adenosyl Methionine (SAM). Pregnancy is a state of increased demand and delayed postpartum repletion of nutrients may predispose women to depression.
methodsWe included women who visited the hospital at 6-weeks postpartum for a regular checkup. Inclusion criteria were age (18-50 years), and willingness to donate venous sample for analysis. Exclusion criteria included previous history of mood disorders or antidepressant medication use, and any systemic illness like hypothyroidism, epilepsy, diabetes, and hypertension. Based on EPDS score of 10 as a cutoff, 217 women with probable postpartum depression (PPD) and equal number of age and BMI matched controls were included. Plasma total vitamin B12, holotranscobalamin (holotc), homocysteine (hcy), methyl malonic acid (MMA), 5-methyl tetrahydrofolate (THF), SAM and serotonin levels were estimated using commercially available ELISA kits. Combined B12 (cB12) score was calculated from study parameters. Multivariate analysis was performed to assess the risk of probable postpartum depression.
resultsTotal vitamin B12 and combined B12 score were found to be significantly lower (p = 0.001) and MMA (p = 0.002) and 5-methyl THF (p < 0.001) levels were higher in women with probable depression than women without probable PPD. Women in the lowest vitamin B12 quartile had 4.53 times higher likelihood of probable postpartum depression (p < 0.001). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that decreasing vitamin B12 (OR = 0.394; 95% CI: 0.189-0.822) and cB12 (OR = 0.293; 95% CI: 0182-0.470) and increasing MMA (OR = 2.14; 95% CI: 1.63-2.83) and 5-methyl THF levels (OR = 3.29; 95% CI: 1.59-6.83) were significantly associated with the risk of probable PPD.
conclusionLow vitamin B12 may contribute to depressive symptoms in vulnerable postpartum period.
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