GABA_A and Postpartum Depression: An Animal Study

The pathophysiology of postpartum depression is unknown, but shifts in gestational hormones have long been suggested as potential culprits. Just as progesterone levels increase during pregnancy and fall following birth, levels of the GABA_A receptor also fluctuate, but inversely — decreasing during pregnancy and returning after birth to prepregnancy levels. To learn whether δ-subunit–containing GABA_A receptors play a central role in the emergence of postpartum depression, researchers developed an animal model of hormonal change in pregnancy.

Mice were genetically altered to be deficient in δ-subunit–containing GABA_A receptors. The researchers verified that during pregnancy, GABA_A receptor δ subunits failed to downregulate in the genetically a…