Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Psychiatr. Mar 22, 2015; 5(1): 103-111
Published online Mar 22, 2015. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v5.i1.103
Postpartum depression: A systematic review of the genetics involved
Tiago Castro e Couto, Mayra Yara Martins Brancaglion, António Alvim-Soares, Lafaiete Moreira, Frederico Duarte Garcia, Rodrigo Nicolato, Regina Amélia Lopes P Aguiar, Henrique Vitor Leite, Humberto Corrêa
Tiago Castro e Couto, Mayra Yara Martins Brancaglion, António Alvim-Soares, Lafaiete Moreira, Frederico Duarte Garcia, Rodrigo Nicolato, Humberto Corrêa, Postgraduate Program in Molecular Medicine, School of Medicine, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais , Belo Horizonte 30130100, MG, Brazil
Regina Amélia Lopes P Aguiar, Henrique Vitor Leite, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 30130100, MG, Brazil
Frederico Duarte Garcia, Humberto Corrêa, Department of Mental Health, School of Medicine, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 30130100, MG, Brazil
Author contributions: All authors equally contributed to this paper.
Supported by Humberto Corrêa has received research funding from Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG) and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq).
Conflict-of-interest: The others authors have no conflicts-of-interest or received any grant.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Tiago Castro e Couto, MD, Postgraduate Program in Molecular Medicine, School of Medicine, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Alfredo Balena Av, 190/240 Santa Efigênia, Belo Horizonte 30130100, MG, Brazil. tiagocastrocouto@gmail.com
Telephone: +55-31-34099785 Fax: +55-34-32242884
Received: July 17, 2011
Peer-review started: July 19, 20114
First decision: October 14, 2014
Revised: November 21, 2014
Accepted: December 16, 2014
Article in press: December 17, 2014
Published online: March 22, 2015
Processing time: 249 Days and 2.5 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: 5HTT and 5HTTLPR were the most studied gene and polymorphism, respectively. 5HTTLPR is associated with postpartum depression (PPD) in the majority of papers, but epigenetics must be considered. TPH1 and TPH2 polymorphisms are related to peripartum depression. COMT and MAOA polymorphisms were also risk factors for PPD. Once again, only when epigenetic was analyzed, an association with BDNF polymorphism was possible. MTHFR, CYP2D6 and PER2 polymorphisms were not related to this mood disorder. Polymorphisms of oxytocin, steroids and estrogen genes were positively correlated with PPD.