Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada.
Institute of Medical Science and Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
World J Biol Psychiatry. 2020 Sep;21(7):529-538. doi: 10.1080/15622975.2020.1769189. Epub 2020 May 28.
Maternal-foetal tryptophan metabolism plays multiple roles in neurodevelopment and immunomodulation across pregnancy. Tryptophan and the immune system are both influenced by the seasons of the year. We thus compared tryptophan and kynurenine levels in subgroups of pregnant women defined by maternal seasonality and season-of-conception (SoC). Maternal plasma samples taken at 9-15 and 23-29 weeks of pregnancy were analysed in 47 women with historical full or sub-syndromal Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and 144 pregnant controls. Repeated measure ANCOVAs compared tryptophan and kynurenine levels in the two study groups over the two pregnancy sampling times, using SoC as a moderator. Significant differences in both plasma tryptophan and kynurenine were found across the eight subgroups defined by maternal seasonality and SoC. These results were independent of the state of depression. Pregnant women with a history of full or sub-syndromal SAD exhibited a different pattern of plasma tryptophan and kynurenine across the seasons compared to control mothers, independent of current mood state. Follow-up of the children will determine the implications of these findings for neurodevelopment and psychiatric risk. Maternal seasonality and SoC may be important considerations when studying tryptophan and its metabolites in human pregnancy and foetal brain development.
母体-胎儿色氨酸代谢在妊娠期间的神经发育和免疫调节中发挥多种作用。色氨酸和免疫系统都受到季节的影响。因此，我们比较了按母体季节性和受孕季节（SoC）定义的孕妇亚组中的色氨酸和犬尿氨酸水平。对 47 名有历史记录的全或亚季节性情感障碍（SAD）和 144 名孕妇对照者的 9-15 周和 23-29 周妊娠时的母体血浆样本进行了分析。使用 SoC 作为调节剂，在两个研究组中，重复测量 ANCOVA 比较了两个妊娠采样时间的色氨酸和犬尿氨酸水平。在由母体季节性和 SoC 定义的八个亚组中，均发现血浆色氨酸和犬尿氨酸存在显著差异。这些结果与抑郁状态无关。与对照组母亲相比，有全或亚季节性 SAD 病史的孕妇在整个季节中表现出不同的血浆色氨酸和犬尿氨酸模式，而与当前情绪状态无关。对儿童的随访将确定这些发现对神经发育和精神风险的影响。母体季节性和 SoC 可能是研究人类妊娠和胎儿大脑发育中色氨酸及其代谢物的重要考虑因素。
