History of Peripartum Depression Moderates the Association Between Estradiol Polygenic Risk Scores and Basal Ganglia Volumes in Major Depressive Disorder
Published: 3 December 2025| Version 1 | DOI: 10.17632/ymp9sb49f9.1
Contributors:
Yasmin Harrington, Marco Paolini, Lidia Fortaner Uya, Melania Maccario, Elisa Maria Teresa Melloni, , Cristina Lorenzi, Raffaella Zanardi, Cristina Colombo, Francesco BenedettiDescription
The neurobiological differences between women who have experienced a peripartum episode and those who have only had episodes outside of this period are not well understood. Our findings demonstrate that women who have experienced a peripartum episode are neurobiologically distinct from women who have no history of PPD in a cluster within the basal ganglia, an area important for motivation, decision making, and emotional processing. Furthermore, we show that the genetic load for estradiol has a differing effect in this area based on PPD status, which supports the claim that PPD is associated with sensitivity to sex steroid hormones.
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Institutions
Ospedale San Raffaele
Categories
Psychiatry, Mood Disorder, Postpartum Depression, Polygenic Score