The cytokine-hormone axis - the link between premenstrual syndrome and postpartum depression.

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and related disorders, and postpartum depression (PPD) can affect women to the extent that their quality of life and that of their near ones can be severely impaired. This review focuses on the different theories regarding the etiologies of PMS and PPD, and attempts to draw a link between the two. Theories focus mainly on hormonal and cytokine factors throughout different phases in the female reproductive cycle. Changes in this symptomatology during pregnancy are also reviewed, as are changes in hormones and cytokine levels. Hypotheses are thus developed as to why the symptoms experienced in PMS often subside during pregnancy yet may recur and be exacerbated after birth, giving rise to the symptoms experienced in PPD.