SynthesisMolecular psychiatry2025
From placenta to the foetus: a systematic review of in vitro models of stress- and inflammation-induced depression in pregnancy.
Synthesis in Molecular psychiatry, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
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The trial behind it
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Article
- Contextual Regulation of the Kynurenine Pathway and Its Relevance for Personalized Psychiatry.Journal of personalized medicine · 2026Review
- Co-trimoxazole-induced reproductive toxicity and placental-barrier disruption: impact on cell-cell junctions and ERK signaling pathway.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2026Article
- Mid-pregnancy psychosocial distress and the risk of third-trimester small-for-gestational-age fetuses: a prospective cohort study in coastal Indonesia.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Neuroplacentology of stress: Novel frontiers linking maternal mental health to offspring neurodevelopment.Neurobiology of stress · 2026Review
- Stopping the clock on placental aging: time for physicians and scientists to work together.Pediatric research · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundDepression in pregnancy can increase vulnerability for psychiatric disorders in the offspring, likely via the transfer of heightened maternal cortisol and cytokines to the in-utero environment. However, the precise cellular and molecular mechanisms, are largely unclear. Animal studies can represent this complex pathophysiology at a systemic level but are expensive and ethically challenging. While simpler, in vitro models offer high-throughput opportunities. Therefore, this systematic review integrates findings of in vitro models relevant to depression in pregnancy, to generate novel hypotheses and targets for intervention.
methodsThe systematic analysis covered studies investigating glucocorticoid or cytokine challenges on placental or foetal neural progenitor cells (NPCs), with or without co-treatment with sex hormones.
resultsOf the 50 included studies, 11 used placental cells and 39 NPCs; surprisingly, only one used a combination of oestrogen and cortisol, and no study combined placental cells and NPCs. In placental cells, cortisol or cytokines decreased nutrient transporter expression and steroidogenic enzyme activity, and increased cytokine production. NPCs exhibited decreases in proliferation and differentiation, via specific molecular pathways, namely, inhibition of hedgehog signalling and activation of kynurenine pathway. In these cells, studies also highlighted epigenetic priming of stress and inflammatory pathways.
conclusionsOverall, results suggest that stress and inflammation not only detrimentally impact placental regulation of nutrients and hormones to the foetus, but also activate downstream pathways through increased inflammation in the placenta, ultimately eliciting adverse effects on foetal neurogenesis. Future research should investigate how sex hormones regulate these mechanisms, with the aim of developing targeted therapeutic approaches for depression in pregnancy.
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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.