Chronobiology International, 2013; 30(9): 1160–1173
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ISSN: 0742-0528 print / 1525-6073 online
DOI: 10.3109/07420528.2013.808652
Charles J. Meliska, Luis F. Martı́nez, Ana M. López, Diane L. Sorenson, Sara Nowakowski,
Daniel F. Kripke, Jeffrey Elliott, and Barbara L. Parry
Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
Current research suggests that mood varies from season to season in some individuals, in conjunction with lightmodulated alterations in chronobiologic indices such as melatonin and cortisol. The primary aim of this study was to
evaluate the effects of seasonal variations in darkness on mood in depressed antepartum women, and to determine
the relationship of seasonal mood variations to contemporaneous blood melatonin and cortisol measures; a
secondary aim was to evaluate the influence of seasonal factors on measures of melancholic versus atypical
depressive symptoms. We obtained measures of mood and overnight concentrations of plasma melatonin and serum
cortisol in 19 depressed patients (DP) and 12 healthy control (HC) antepartum women, during on-going seasonal
variations in daylight/darkness, in a cross-sectional design. Analyses of variance showed that in DP, but not HC,
Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HRSD) scores were significantly higher in women tested during seasonally longer
versus shorter nights. This exacerbation of depressive symptoms occurred when the dim light melatonin onset, the
melatonin synthesis offset, and the time of maximum cortisol secretion (acrophase) were phase-advanced (temporally
shifted earlier), and melatonin quantity was reduced, in DP but not HC. Serum cortisol increased across gestational
weeks in both the HC and DP groups, which did not differ significantly in cortisol concentration. Nevertheless, serum
cortisol concentration correlated positively with HRSD score in DP but not HC; notably, HC showed neither significant
mood changes nor altered melatonin and cortisol timing or quantity in association with seasonal variations. These
findings suggest that depression severity during pregnancy may become elevated in association with seasonally
related phase advances in melatonin and cortisol timing and reduced melatonin quantity that occur in DP, but not
HC. Thus, women who experience antepartum depression may be more susceptible than their nondepressed
counterparts to phase alterations in melatonin and cortisol timing during seasonally longer nights. Interventions that
phase delay melatonin and/or cortisol timing—for example, increased exposure to bright evening light—might serve
as an effective intervention for antepartum depressions whose severity is increased during seasonally longer nights.
Keywords: Chronobiology, circadian rhythm, darkness, pregnant depression, season
INTRODUCTION
Although some early work suggested that depression risk
was reduced during pregnancy (Paffenbarger, 1964),
recent studies indicate that the risk of a major depressive
episode (MDE) during pregnancy may be greater than
previously recognized, particularly in women with a
previous personal or family history of depression (Cohen
et al., 2010). Antepartum MDE risk appears to increase in
conjunction with comorbidities such as physical and
emotional abuse, poverty, limited education, lack of
social support, single marital status, and human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV) seropositivity (Coelho
et al., 2013; Makara-Studzinska et al., 2013; Manikkam
& Burns, 2012). Some recent studies estimate depression
prevalence during pregnancy in the range of 8–16%
(Bowen et al., 2012; Colvin et al., 2013). Antidepressant
medication is reported to be prescribed to more than
13% of pregnant women in the United States
(Rosenquist, 2013), and El Marroun et al. (2012) found
that 8.7% of 7027 pregnant women studied had clinically
relevant depressive symptoms, with 15% of those women
receiving selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)
to relieve depression symptoms during pregnancy.
Notably, the prevalence of suicidality in a prospective
study of 1066 women was found to be 6.9–12.0% during
the last six antepartum months (Mauri et al., 2012).
20
13
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Antepartum Depression Severity is Increased During Seasonally
Longer Nights: Relationship to Melatonin and Cortisol Timing
and Quantity
Submitted February 14, 2013, Returned for revision May 21, 2013, Accepted May 22, 2013
Correspondence: Charles J. Meliska, PhD, Project Scientist, University of California, San Diego, MC 0804, 9500 Gilman Drive,
La Jolla, CA 92093-0804, USA. E-mail: cmeliska@ucsd.edu
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Antepartum Depression in Seasonally Longer Nights
Some lines of contemporary research identify dysregulation of circadian rhythms in clinical depression
(Bunney & Bunney, 2000; Terman & Terman, 2005,
2010). We recently reviewed evidence implicating melatonin in antepartum depression, as well as in depressions associated with other reproductive epochs (Parry
et al., 2006a, 2006b). We also reported (Parry et al.,
2008a) that relative to nondepressed women, nocturnal
plasma melatonin in pregnant depressed women was
reduced, in contrast to postpartum women in whom it
was elevated. Also, melatonin timing measures were
phase-advanced in pregnant women with a personal or
family history of depression, relative to women without
such a history.
Abundant evidence also implicates dysregulation of
the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in clinical depression. In fact, HPA dysregulation with accompanying cortisol elevation is regarded as the most
consistent neuroendocrine abnormality in depression
(Dinan & Scott, 2005; Rubin et al., 2001), and may be
particularly prevalent in women (Young & Korszun,
2010). Cortisol secretion is usually suppressed after
dexamethasone administration, but resistance to dexamethasone suppression of cortisol occurs more commonly among patients with major depression than
among nondepressed persons (Carroll et al., 1968).
Further, Jokinen and Nordstrom (2009) found that
depressed participants who had attempted suicide
were more likely to be nonsuppressors in the dexamethasone suppression test than nonattempters.
Women are especially prone to cortisol elevation in
response to stress because ovarian hormones modulate
the HPA axis and cortisol responses (Young & Korszun,
2010). During pregnancy, free cortisol is elevated
approximately 3-fold (Mastorakos & Ilias, 2003), producing levels comparable to those in Cushing’s syndrome
(Kammerer et al., 2006), which may be associated with
increased
melancholic
symptoms.
Nevertheless,
although cortisol elevation is a frequent feature of
clinical depression, not all studies support this finding.
For example, a recent meta-analysis (Knorr et al., 2010)
found no reliable differences in cortisol in HC versus
DP. The discrepancy in cortisol findings may be due, in
part, to the fact that cortisol elevation may be a correlate
of melancholic, rather than atypical, depression
(Kammerer et al., 2006; Young et al., 2001). The HRSD
score is often described as reflecting more melancholic
features of depression (e.g., insomnia, decreased appetite, weight loss), whereas the atypical score reflects
primarily the hypersomnia and increased appetite features seen in more atypical depressions. Depression
with atypical features may affect 15–40% of depressed
individuals (Quitkin, 2002), and women are believed to
be more susceptible to atypical depressive symptoms
than men (Grigoriadis & Robinson, 2007).
Finally, mood alterations associated with seasonal
changes, e.g., reduced positive affect with shorter day
lengths, occur globally (Golder & Macy, 2011). Seasonal
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affective disorder (SAD) occurring in winter (‘‘winter
depression’’), an increase in depressive symptoms
during the winter months, also occurs globally, but
generally with greater frequency in higher latitudes
where winter ambient daylight is reduced (Rosen et al.,
1990). Levitt et al. (2000) estimated that the seasonal
subtype of depression plays a role in 11% of all cases of
major depression. Lewy et al. (1987) proposed a ‘‘phase
shift hypothesis’’ suggesting that SAD was a manifestation of circadian dysregulation involving a phase delay
in melatonin secretion in most cases, but noted that a
phase advance in melatonin secretion occurred in some
instances. This hypothesis was supported by studies
showing that bright morning light, which phaseadvanced (shifted to an earlier time) melatonin timing
produced antidepressant effects. Subsequent work (Lam
& Levitan, 2000; Terman & Terman, 2005; Wirz-Justice,
2003) provided further evidence for the efficacy of bright
light therapy, typically administered in the morning, for
SAD as well as for nonseasonal depressions, including
the treatment of depression during pregnancy (Crowley
& Youngstedt, 2012; Oren et al., 2002; Parry & Maurer,
2003; Wirz-Justice et al., 2011).
The present study extends our earlier work (Parry
et al., 2008a) by examining the effect of seasonal
changes in day length on mood alterations in antepartum women. The primary aim was to elucidate the
effects of seasonal changes in darkness on depression
severity during pregnancy, as related to circadian parameters of melatonin and cortisol rhythms. A secondary
aim was to contrast the effects of seasonal and circadian
parameters on melancholic versus atypical antepartum
depression symptoms. We hypothesized that seasonal
changes in nocturnal darkness would influence mood,
melatonin, and cortisol phase timing and amplitude in
depressed, but not nondepressed, antepartum women.
We also expected to find seasonal differences in severity
of melancholic versus atypical depressive symptoms.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Subjects
Data for this report were collected between November
1989 and July 2010, and include observations collected
from some subjects reported on previously (Parry et al.,
2008a). Details of subject recruitment procedures are
described elsewhere (Parry et al., 2008a). In brief, we
telephone screened 20–45-yr-old San Diego women who
were pregnant (up to 34 wks, estimated). To be eligible,
women had to not smoke and not use medications,
herbs, or over-the-counter preparations that would
interfere with neuroendocrine measures. Participants
took part in multiple overnight hospital stays in the
General Clinical Research Center (GCRC), where they
were allowed to bring a child with them if needed.
Subjects had laboratory tests for clinical chemistry,
thyroid indices, and complete blood count, urinalysis,
and urine toxicology screens. They were without
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1162
C. J. Meliska et al.
significant medical illness and without medication that
would interfere with study measures. Depressed subjects
were required to be without antidepressant medication
2 wks (4 wks for fluoxetine) before study. Patients with
bipolar or primary anxiety disorders were excluded. The
depressed patient (DP) and healthy control (HC) participants were without alcohol abuse within the last year.
To establish DSM-IV-TR (Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual for Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text
Revision; American Psychiatric Association, 2000)
entrance and baseline criteria, trained clinicians gave
each participant a structured psychiatric interview, the
Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID) (First
et al., 1995), and at least two baseline evaluation ratings
scheduled 1 wk apart using the Structured Interview
Guide for the 21-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale
(HRSD), Seasonal Affective Disorders (SIGH-SAD) version (Williams et al., 1994) that included an 8-item
atypical depressive symptom inventory; the Beck
Depression Inventory (BDI) (Beck et al., 1961); and the
Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) (Cox
et al., 1987), also validated for use during pregnancy
(Hewitt et al., 2009).
From a pool of 42 pregnant volunteers who completed the study, we obtained mood data on 12 essentially asymptomatic, healthy control (HC) women with
baseline ratings of 8 on the Structured Interview Guide
for the 21-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale
(HRSD), Seasonal Affective Disorders (SIGH-SAD) version. We compared the HC with 19 antepartum women
with ratings of 14, identified hereafter as depressed
patients (DP). Complete melatonin and cortisol data
were obtained on 12 HC and 17 DP subjects.
Methods
Subjects meeting entrance criteria were admitted to the
University of California General Clinical Research
Center (GCRC) at 16:00 h local (Pacific standard) time
(PST). After a night of adaptation to the sleep room,
licensed nurses inserted an intravenous catheter at
17:00 h and drew blood (3 cc) every 30 min from 18:00
to 11:00 h for measurement of nocturnal plasma melatonin and serum cortisol. Subjects remained at bed rest
in a single room with double doors and heavy drapery
over the windows to block extraneous light from 16:00 to
11:00 h. Light panels kept daytime light exposure relatively dim (530 lux). We considered this light intensity
too dim to substantially suppress melatonin in undilated pupils, disrupt sleep, or shift circadian rhythms,
yet not so dim that it might serve as a dark pulse
(Benloucif et al., 2008). Subjects slept in the dark with an
eye mask. Nurses or sleep technicians entered the room
only when necessary (recorded by infrared camera),
using a pen-size dim red flashlight. During sleep times,
GCRC nurses threaded the intravenous catheter through
a porthole in the wall and drew samples from an
adjoining room to minimize sleep disturbances.
The University of California, San Diego (UCSD)
Institutional Review Board approved the protocol. All
subjects gave written informed consent after procedures
had been explained fully.
Melatonin Assay
Blood samples for melatonin and cortisol were placed in
plastic tubes containing ethylenediaminetetracetic acid,
centrifuged, frozen immediately, and then stored at
70 C until assayed. Samples for the same subject were
run in the same assay. Initial assays for melatonin were
described in previously published papers (Anderson
et al., 1976; Brzezinski et al., 1988). We assayed plasma
melatonin concentrations of the first 44 subjects by
radioimmunoassay (RIA) with kits manufactured by IBL
Immuno-Biological Laboratories, Hamburg, Germany.
As the manufacturer changed this kit, plasma for the last
five subjects was assayed with Direct Melatonin RIA kits
manufactured by Bühlmann Laboratories (ALPCO
Diagnostics, Windham, NH, USA). This widely used
RIA kit uses calibrators ranging from 1 to 81 pg/mL and
reports intra- and interassay coefficients of variation
(CVs) of 6.7% and 10.4%, respectively. The standard
range is from 1.0 to 81 pg/mL, with an analytical
sensitivity of 0.8 pg/mL.
Cortisol Assay
Serum cortisol concentration was determined using
solid-phase RIA kits (Diagnostic Products, Los Angeles,
CA, USA) with reported intra-assay coefficient of variation of ca. 4% and interassay coefficient of variation of
ca. 6 %; the standard range is from 0.5 to 50 mg/dL, with
an assay sensitivity of 0.3 mg/dL. The manufacturer
reports highest antibody cross-reactivities were for
prednisolone (76%); methylprednisolone (12%); and
11-deoxycortisol (11.4%). Cross-reactivities of all other
reported compounds were below 1%.
Analyses
Melatonin Parameters
For this study, we converted all local time measures
obtained during Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) to PST
prior to analyses of temporal effects on melatonin and
cortisol parameters. As described previously (Parry et al.,
2008b), we defined the dim light melatonin onset
(DLMO) as the first time that the slope (dy/dt) of the
log-transformed melatonin concentration curve became
steeply positive for at least three consecutive time points
relative to the slope of the points immediately preceding
it; synthesis offset (SynOff) as the first time after the
melatonin peak when the slope of the descending logtransformed melatonin curve became steeply negative
for three consecutive time points; dim light melatonin
offset/return to baseline (DLMOff) as the first time when
the slope of the descending log-transformed melatonin
curve approached zero for at least three consecutive
time points; synthesis duration as SynOff–DLMO; and
Chronobiology International
Antepartum Depression in Seasonally Longer Nights
significant. Gestation week was applied as a covariate
for the cortisol analyses.
synthesis area under the curve (SynAUC) as the integrated area under the melatonin curve between DLMO
and SynOff.
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1163
RESULTS
SIGH-SAD
For SIGH-SAD analyses, we did separate analyses on the
21-item HRSD and the 8-item atypical subscale, averaged over 2–4 administrations. For tests of the effects of
seasonally longer versus seasonally shorter nights, we
calculated the difference (sunset time sunrise time)
as reported for San Diego, California (W117 080 ,
N32 450 ), in online tables from the US Naval
Observatory web site (http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/
docs/RS_OneYear.php).
Based
on
the
Naval
Observatory tables, we defined darkness duration as
the number of hours between sunset and sunrise; at this
latitude, darkness duration varies from a minimum of
9.7 decimal h in summer to a maximum of 14.0 decimal
h in winter.
Demographic Characteristics
None of the women studied met SCID criteria for SAD.
Of those meeting screening criteria, one was dropped as
an outlier because her delayed melatonin onset (24:30 h)
and advanced baseline melatonin offset (05:30 h) differed from the group mean by more than 3 standard
deviations. We studied the remaining 31 pregnant
women (12 HC and 19 DP): 17 Caucasian, 10 Hispanic,
2 African American, and 2 multiethnic. Table 1 summarizes demographic data for HC and DP groups. With
the exception of SIGH-SAD scores, the groups differed
little on demographic characteristics; however, a personal history of depression was more common in DP
(p ¼ 0.006), which also had marginally more children, on
average, than HC (p ¼ 0.051).
Statistics
Cortisol and melatonin concentrations were subjected
to a modified cosine analysis yielding estimates of the
circadian rhythm-adjusted mean cortisol or melatonin
quantity (mesor) based on 17 h of samples collected
every 30 min from 6:00 to 11:00 h, PST; the peak
excursion above the mesor value (amplitude); plus the
time of the peak of the rhythm of cortisol secretion
(acrophase). For some statistical analyses, we assigned
subjects to either ‘‘shorter’’ or ‘‘longer’’ darkness duration categories based on a median split on darkness
durations (sunset time sunrise time) prevailing at the
time they were studied. Using this bimodal darkness
split, we analyzed the melatonin quantity profile with
Time Diagnosis Bimodal Darkness analysis of
covariance (ANCOVA), covarying on PST versus PDT
prevailing at the time of data collection. Timing and
amplitude measures for plasma melatonin (as described
above) and serum cortisol were also analyzed with
multivariate analyses of covariance (MANCOVA), followed by univariate ANCOVA when the MANOVA was
Seasonal Distributions in HC versus DP
The DP were somewhat more likely to have enrolled for
study in fall/winter months than in spring/summer
months (10/19 ¼ 53% in October–March versus 9/
19 ¼ 47% in April–September); HC were somewhat less
likely to have enrolled in fall/winter than spring/
summer (3/12 ¼ 25% versus 9/12 ¼ 75%, respectively).
However, this difference in frequencies did not
attain statistical significance (p ¼ 0.158, Fisher exact
test). Along with that finding, based on a median split
on hours of darkness, DP were somewhat more likely
than HC to have entered the study during seasons with
longer darkness (12/19 ¼ 63.2% versus 4/12 ¼ 33.3%;
p ¼ 0.149, Fisher exact test), and, thus, hours of darkness
exposure (sunset time sunrise time) was somewhat
higher in DP versus HC (11.9 1.4 versus 11.1 1.3 h;
F(1, 29) ¼ 2.234, p ¼ 0.146). Contrary to expectation,
among women for whom data were available, 50.0% of
HC versus 38.5% of DP reported that fall or winter was
their ‘‘worst season’’ (p ¼ 0.448); further, 20.0% of the
TABLE 1. Means (SD) of subject characteristics in healthy control and depressed women studied during pregnancy.
Healthy control (n ¼ 12)
Characteristic
Age (yrs)
Weeks pregnant
Body mass index
MEQ score
Children
SIGH-SAD score
Family history of depression (%)
Personal history of depression (%)
Duration current depressed episode (wks)
Mean
SD
Range
Mean
SD
Range
p
24.2
29.9
28.4
54.4
0.8
4.9
25.0 (3/12)
8.3 (1/12)
12.1
4.8
8.9
3.8
12.5
0.6
2.3
–
–
3.8
19–36
8–37
24–36
36–69
1–2
1–8
–
–
3–28
26.5
29.1
29.9
55.5
1.4
21.4
36.8 (7/19)
57.9 (11/19)
NA
5.8
7.6
5.8
9.6
1.2
5.9
–
–
NA
20–38
11–36
22–41
41–73
0–5
14–34
–
–
NA
0.228
0.292
0.325
0.799
0.051
50.001
0.492
0.006
NA
MEQ ¼ Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire.
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Depressed (n ¼ 19)
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C. J. Meliska et al.
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HC and 53.8% of the DP also identified spring or
summer as their ‘‘best season’’ (p ¼ 0.197)
Relationship of Darkness Duration to Mood and
Melatonin and Cortisol Timing and Quantity
HRSD Score Versus Atypical Score
Hours of darkness was significantly and positively
correlated with depressive symptoms as measured by
the HRSD score in DP (r ¼ 0.680, p ¼ 0.001), but not HC
(r ¼ 0.119, p ¼ 0.713) (see Figure 1). In contrast, darkness duration was not significantly correlated with the
atypical depression scale score of the SIGH-SAD in
either DP (r ¼ 0.174, p ¼ 0.476) or HC (r ¼ 0.244,
p ¼ 0.445). Thus, in DP, depressive symptom severity
as measured by the HRSD was greater during periods of
seasonally longer nights than during seasonally shorter
nights. (N.B.: Correlations between atypical score and
other variables of interest were not significant [p40.05]
except as noted, below.)
Melatonin Timing and Quantity
As shown in Table 2, in DP, but not HC, darkness
duration (sunset–sunrise) was significantly and negatively correlated with SynOff (r ¼ 0.601, p ¼ 0.011) (see
Figure 2) and synthesis duration (r ¼ 0.489, p ¼ 0.047),
FIGURE 1. Pearson correlations of hours of darkness (sunset–
sunrise) with depressive symptom severity (HRSD score) in
pregnant HC (n ¼ 12) and DP (n ¼ 19) groups.
but not DLMO (r ¼ 0.100, p ¼ 0.701); the correlation
between hours of darkness and melatonin synthesis
AUC was also negative, but marginal (r ¼ 0.480,
p ¼ 0.051) in DP. Thus, longer darkness was associated
with earlier SynOff and shorter synthesis duration, and a
somewhat lower melatonin synthesis AUC in DP; notably, in HC, darkness duration was not significantly
correlated with any melatonin timing or quantity
measures.
In partial confirmation of the correlation results,
analyses based on a median split on hours of darkness
showed that greater seasonal darkness had significant
effects on melatonin timing and quantity in DP, but not
HC (see Table 3): e.g., DLMO (p ¼ 0.050) and SynOff
(p ¼ 0.036) occurred significantly earlier in DP (but not
HC) on nights with longer versus shorter darkness; the
DLMOff and synthesis duration were not significantly
affected by darkness duration (p40.05). The melatonin
synthesis AUC also was significantly smaller under
conditions of longer versus shorter darkness in DP
(p ¼ 0.018). In contrast, none of these darkness-related
differences were significant in the HC group (all p40.05)
(see Table 3). Furthermore, analysis of variance
(ANOVA) on melatonin AUC showed a significant
Darkness Diagnosis interaction, F(1, 25) ¼ 6.678,
p ¼ 0.016. Analyses of simple effects showed synthesis
FIGURE 2. Pearson correlations of hours of darkness (sunset–
sunrise) with melatonin synthesis offset in pregnant HC (n ¼ 12)
and DP (n ¼ 17) groups.
TABLE 2. Pearson correlations of hours of darkness (sunset–sunrise) with melatonin and cortisol timing and quantity in pregnant healthy
control subjects and depressed patients.
Melatonin
Subject group
HC (n ¼ 12)
DP (n ¼ 17)
DLMO
SynOff
DLMOff
0.183 (ns)
0.226 (ns)
0.114 (ns)
0.100 (ns) 0.601 (0.011) 0.394 (ns)
Cortisol
Synthesis duration Synthesis AUC
0.016 (ns)
0.489 (0.047)
Acrophase
Mesor
Amplitude
0.429 (ns)
0.122 (ns)
0.072 (ns) 0.216 (ns)
0.480 (0.051) 0.492 (0.045)
0.228 (ns)
0.277 (ns)
DLMO ¼ dim light melatonin onset; SynOff ¼ synthesis offset; DLMOff ¼ dim light melatonin offset/return to baseline; AUC ¼ area under
the melatonin curve; HC ¼ healthy control; DP ¼ depressed patients.
p values for HC and DP correlations appear in parentheses, with statistically significant correlations (p50.05) highlighted in boldface.
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10:34 (0:21)
9:28 (0:53)
1.203
8.096
0.012
27.379
50.0001
Shorter versus longer darkness was based on a median split on darkness durations (sunset time sunrise time) in HC and DP groups, combined. Boldface highlights significant differences
between longer versus shorter darkness. [] designates effect sizes in which HC and DP are numerically in opposite directions.
16.14 (5.56)
16.78 (5.60)
0.118
0.051
0.824
9.54 (1.08) 1782.5 (1027.9)
9.71 (1.96) 927.3 (272.2)
0.097
1.149
0.035
7.078
0.854
0.018
9:55 (1:24)
9:11 (1:11)
0.581
1.322
0.268
06:00 (0:54)
04:40 (1:14)
1.038
5.297
0.036
20:04 (00:31)
19:00 (1:05)
1.080
4.620
0.050
10.54 (0.70)
12.59 (0.80)
Shorter (n ¼ 6)
05:08 (00:20)
18:35 (00:22)
Longer (n ¼ 11)
06:01 (00:22)
17:26 (00:30)
Effect size
F(1, 15)
23.725
24.24
p
50.0001
50.0001
DP
49.91
50.0001
9.02 (2.78)
9.48 (3.36)
0.149
0.081
0.78
9:28 (1:09) 19.16 (6.54) 10.10 (3.47)
9:16 (0:44) 18.14 (12.51) 8.98 (5.78)
0.210
[]0.122
[]0.271
0.267
0.067
0.182
0.617
0.801
0.679
9.25 (1.10) 1256.5 (618.5)
9.25 (0.50) 1870.5 (1166.0)
0.000
[]0.731
0.000
1.488
1.000
0.251
04:53 (1:02) 9:58 (1:09)
05:30 (0:42) 9:52 (1:45)
[]0.658 0.069
1.174
0.013
0.304
0.913
19:38 (1:27)
20:15 (0:41)
[]0.496
0.646
0.440
10.30 (0.46)
12.70 (0.70)
Shorter (n ¼ 8)
05:01 (00:12)
18:40 (00:17)
Longer (n ¼ 4)
06:03 (00:30)
17:22 (00:17)
Effect size
F(1, 10)
27.779
58.493
p
50.0001
50.0001
HC
Amplitude
(mg/dL)
Mesor
(mg/dL)
Acrophase
(hh:mm)
Subject
group
Median split
darkness
Sunrise
(hh:mm)
Sunset
(hh:mm)
Darkness
(sunset–sunrise) (h)
DLMO
(hh:mm)
Offset
(hh:mm)
DLMOff
(hh:mm)
Duration
(h)
AUC
(pg/mL/h)
Cortisol synthesis
Melatonin synthesis
TABLE 3. Seasonal darkness effects on mean (SD) melatonin and cortisol timing and quantity in pregnant healthy control (HC) subjects and depressed patients (DP).
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Antepartum Depression in Seasonally Longer Nights
1165
AUC was significantly smaller in DP versus HC under
conditions of longer darkness (mean ¼ 927.3 272.2
versus 1870.5 1166.0 pg/mL; F(1, 13) ¼ 7.038, p ¼
0.020), but DP versus HC was not significantly different
under conditions of shorter darkness (mean ¼ 1782.5
1027.2 versus 1256.5 618.5 pg/mL; F(1, 12) ¼ 1.431,
p ¼ 0.255). Thus, AUC was reduced rather than
increased during periods of seasonally longer darkness
in DP versus HC. Figure 3(A) illustrates the minimal
differences in melatonin secretion profiles obtained
under conditions of longer versus shorter darkness
in HC. In contrast, Figure 3(B) shows the reduced AUC
and the phase advances (shifts leftward) in melatonin
timing in longer versus shorter darkness in DP.
Cortisol Timing and Quantity
Cortisol acrophase was negatively correlated with hours
of darkness in DP (r ¼ 0.492, p ¼ 0.045), but not HC
(r ¼ 0.122, p ¼ 0.715) (see Figure 4). Thus, cortisol
secretion peaked earlier during periods of seasonally
longer darkness in DP, but not HC. As might be expected
in light of the significant correlations between darkness
and melatonin timing (Figure 2), and darkness and
cortisol timing (Figure 4), cortisol acrophase also was
correlated positively with melatonin SynOff in DP
(r ¼ 0.665, p ¼ 0.004), but not HC (r ¼ 0.079,
p ¼ 0.808). The cortisol mesor increased linearly across
weeks of gestation in both HC and DP, and correlations
between cortisol mesor and gestation week were nearly
identical in DP (r ¼ 0.619, p ¼ 0.009) and HC (r ¼ 0.618,
p ¼ 0.032). The cosine-derived cortisol amplitude was
not correlated significantly with gestation week in either
HC or DP (p40.05). A MANCOVA with gestation week as
a covariate showed HC versus DP were not significantly
different in cortisol mesor (mean HC versus
DP ¼ 18.8 8.4 versus 16.6 5.4 mg/dL; F(1, 26) ¼ 0.036,
p ¼ 0.851), amplitude (mean HC versus DP ¼ 9.7 4.1
versus 9.3 3.1; F(1, 26) ¼ 0.001, p ¼ 0.999), acrophase
(mean HC versus DP ¼ 10:32 0:19 versus 10:30 0:16
hh:mm; F(1, 27) ¼ 0.004, p ¼ 0.949), or lowest nighttime
cortisol value (nadir) (mean HC versus DP ¼ 9.1 5.3
versus 7.2 4.2; F(1, 26) ¼ 0.104, p ¼ 0.750). ‘‘Darkness,’’
however, was a key element: cortisol acrophase was
phase-advanced under conditions of longer versus
shorter darkness in DP (p ¼ 0.012), but not in HC (see
Table 3). Cortisol mesor and amplitude were not
affected significantly by longer versus shorter darkness
(p40.05) in either DP or HC. Thus, in DP but not HC,
the cortisol acrophase was phase-advanced concurrent
with the phase advance in melatonin timing. The
cortisol mesor and amplitude were unaffected
by increased seasonal darkness during periods when
seasonal darkness was greatest in both HC and DP.
Figure 5(A) illustrates the minimal differences in cortisol
secretion profiles obtained under conditions of longer
versus shorter darkness in HC. In contrast, Figure 5(B)
shows the phase advance (shift leftward) in cortisol
timing in longer versus shorter darkness in DP.
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C. J. Meliska et al.
FIGURE 3. Nocturnal plasma melatonin profiles at 30-min intervals under conditions of shorter versus longer darkness in pregnant (A)
healthy controls (n ¼ 12) and (B) depressed patients (n ¼ 17). Data points represent means ( SEM) of 30-min collection intervals.
in the HC versus DP groups or in response to seasonal
changes in darkness. Despite the absence of difference
between groups, cortisol mesor was correlated positively
with HRSD score in DP, but not in HC. Thus, during
periods of seasonally longer darkness, the increased
cortisol mesor and phase advance in melatonin and
cortisol timing were associated with greater HRSD
depression scores in DP but not HC. In contrast to the
HRSD score, the SIGH-SAD atypical depression score
was unrelated to seasonal darkness, or to melatonin or
cortisol timing and quantity in pregnant DP.
DISCUSSION
FIGURE 4. Relationship of hours of darkness to cortisol acrophase
in pregnant HC (n ¼ 12) and DP (n ¼ 17) groups.
Relationship of HRSD Scores to Melatonin and
Cortisol Timing and Quantity
The HRSD score was correlated negatively with melatonin synthesis offset in DP (r ¼ 0.603, p ¼ 0.010), but
the correlation was not significant and in the opposite
(positive) direction in HC (r ¼ 0.564, p ¼ 0.056). Thus,
increased depression severity was associated with
phase-advanced melatonin synthesis offset in DP, but
not HC. The HRSD score also was positively correlated
with cortisol mesor in DP (r ¼ 0.592, p ¼ 0.012), but not
HC (r ¼ 0.074, p ¼ 0.819) (see Figure 6). The correlation
between atypical score and cortisol mesor in DP was not
significant (r ¼ 0.277, p ¼ 0.282).
Summary of Results
Depressed and nondepressed pregnant women differed
significantly in their responses to seasonal changes in
daylight: in DP but not HC, seasonally longer nights
were associated with (1) higher HRSD (greater depression) scores; (2) phase advances in DLMO and melatonin SynOff; (3) reduced melatonin synthesis AUC; and
(4) a phase advance in cortisol acrophase. Overall,
cortisol mesor and amplitude did not differ significantly
The present results confirm major findings of our earlier
work on antepartum depression (Parry et al., 2007,
2008a) while providing new evidence regarding seasonal
influences on depression severity during pregnancy. To
our knowledge, our study is the first to report increased
symptoms of antepartum depression in association with
seasonally reduced daylight. Although investigators have
reported an increased risk of postpartum depression in
women whose babies were born during fall and winter
months (Corral et al., 2007a; Hiltunen et al., 2004; Sylven
et al., 2011; Yang et al., 2011), a large cross-sectional
analysis of 67,079 births detected no significant relationship between postpartum depression and season of
birth or length of daylight (Jewell et al., 2010).
Melatonin Timing Effects
Although seasonal differences in month of study enrollment were nonsignificant, the seasonal differences in
melatonin timing and quantity we found might be
interpreted as evidence that women of a certain
chronotype were simply more likely to volunteer for
this study in winter than in summer. A plausible
explanation for why this could occur might be that
pregnant women with phase-advanced melatonin
timing during winter were more likely to volunteer for
a study on women’s depressions because that was the
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FIGURE 5. Serum cortisol profiles at 30-min intervals under conditions of shorter versus longer darkness in pregnant (A) healthy controls
(n ¼ 12) and (B) depressed patients (n ¼ 17). Data points represent means (SEM) of 30-min collection intervals.
FIGURE 6. Relationship of depressive symptom severity (HRSD)
score to cortisol mesor in pregnant HC (n ¼ 12) and DP (n ¼ 17)
groups.
time when their symptoms were most intense.
Furthermore, our finding that these women were more
likely to have symptoms whose intensity was correlated
with length of nocturnal darkness directly confirms that
their depressive symptoms were exacerbated during the
winter months.
Equally important, the exacerbation of depression
symptoms during longer nights was associated with
phase-advanced melatonin timing in DP, but not in HC.
Wehr et al. (1993) studied the effects of long versus short
nights on melatonin secretion in healthy individuals
exposed to artificial ‘‘days’’ that differed in light duration, under controlled laboratory conditions. Duration
of nocturnal melatonin secretion was longer after
exposure to long nights than after short nights. In a
subsequent study, Wehr et al. (1995) studied melatonin
secretion in 21 healthy men, under naturalistic light
conditions prevailing in both summer and winter. In
contrast to their earlier findings, they found that
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melatonin timing was unchanged in association with
seasonal changes in ambient daylight in these subjects.
The authors attributed the lack of seasonal effects to the
fact that their subjects were exposed to the combined
effects of ambient sunlight plus artificial light. Thus,
rather than varying with day length, melatonin onset,
offset, and secretion duration remained essentially
unchanged in the healthy participants, despite seasonal
changes in day length. In a follow-up study in which
SAD patients were compared with healthy subjects,
Wehr et al. (2001) found a seasonal change in melatonin
secretion in the SAD patients, but not in healthy
volunteers. Thus, under naturalistic conditions of ambient sunlight plus artificial light, melatonin secretion
patterns were maintained in nondepressed subjects
despite seasonal changes in day length, but were altered
in association with seasonal changes in SAD patients.
This suggests that with respect to melatonin and cortisol
profiles, DP were more sensitive to changes in the
seasonal light-dark cycle than HC. These outcomes are
consistent with our findings in pregnant HC, whose
mood and melatonin profiles did not vary with seasonal
changes, whereas mood and melatonin timing were
altered in association with seasonal changes in DP.
Together, these results suggest that women who become
depressed during pregnancy are more likely to present
with depression during periods of longer nights/shorter
days, presumably because their temporally associated
symptoms are more intense then, and occur in association with significant alterations in melatonin timing.
A plausible mechanism for these results could be that
pregnant depressed women stay indoors, and thus are
exposed to less ambient sunlight, than their nondepressed counterparts, making their melatonin rhythms
more like those of subjects in controlled studies of
ambient light restriction (e.g., Wehr et al., 1993).
Alternately, women who experience depression during
pregnancy may have less stable, more photo-sensitive,
or more photo-responsive circadian rhythms that make
them more vulnerable to environmental perturbations
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C. J. Meliska et al.
(e.g., changes in light-dark cycle) than nondepressed
women. This pattern is analogous to seasonal changes
in circadian waveform and circadian photic responses
found in hamsters exposed to the long nights of winterlike photoperiods (Evans et al., 2012; Glickman et al.,
2012). A recent study (Menegazzi et al., 2012) likewise
showed that mutant Drosophila melanogaster whose
circadian clocks were impaired responded more
strongly to environmental changes than did wild-type
flies.
Although an impressive body of evidence (Kripke,
1983; Lewy, 2007, 2009; Lewy et al., 1987, 2007; Wehr
et al., 1979; Wirz-Justice et al., 1995) shows that
chronobiologic alterations are associated with both
seasonal and nonseasonal depressions, not all studies
have confirmed this association (Karadottir & Axelsson,
2001; Van Dongen et al., 1998; Youngstedt et al., 2005).
Our results indicate that during seasonally longer nights,
changes in melatonin and cortisol timing and quantity
were associated with altered depressive symptom severity in pregnant women. However, the seasonal worsening of mood we found in pregnant DP occurred in
conjunction with phase-advanced melatonin timing
measures, whereas most studies of the chronobiology
of winter depression report opposite effects—i.e., phasedelayed melatonin timing (Emens et al., 2009; Lewy,
2012). These earlier findings provided the basis for the
hypothesis, confirmed in several studies (Terman &
Terman, 2005; Wirz-Justice, 2003), that by phaseadvancing melatonin timing, exposure to early morning
bright light provides the best antidepressant treatment
for SAD, whereas evening bright light is ineffective or
exacerbates depression symptoms (Lewy et al., 1987,
1998; Terman & Terman, 2005; Wehr et al., 1979; WirzJustice, 2003). Nevertheless, consistent with the present
findings, some studies have shown that increased
symptom severity in some winter depressions may
occur in conjunction with a phase advance, rather
than a phase delay, in melatonin timing (Lewy et al.,
1987, 2006).
Furthermore, some studies report equal or superior
antidepressant benefit from exposure to evening versus
morning light in nonseasonal depressions ((Wirz-Justice
et al., 1993; see Lam & Levitan, 2000, for review).
A phase-advance model of mood disorders which
proposes that circadian markers are advanced in some
depressions, either in relation to clock time or relative to
other circadian markers (e.g., the sleep-wake cycle), has
been advanced previously (Emens et al., 2009; Kripke,
1983; Wehr & Goodwin, 1983; Wehr & Wirz-Justice, 1982;
Wirz-Justice et al., 1995). The disparity between our
results and those of some earlier studies suggests that
with respect to seasonal and chronobiologic features,
depression in pregnant women may be chronobiologically different from depressions occurring in nonpregnant individuals. Depending on the reproductive epic
(menstrual, pregnant, postpartum, or menopausal),
either phase advances or phase delays in melatonin
timing, as well as increases or decreases in melatonin
amplitude, may occur in depressed women. For example, we found decreased melatonin amplitudes along
with phase-advanced melatonin timing in association
with premenstrual depression (Parry et al., 1990) and
during pregnancy (current findings and Parry et al.,
2008a), but increased melatonin amplitude without
significant phase change in postpartum depression
(Parry et al., 2008a), and an increased amplitude and
phase-delayed melatonin offset in depression during the
perimenopausal period (Parry et al., 2008b).
Melatonin Quantity Effects
In contrast to postpartum depressed patients, in whom
morning melatonin levels were elevated, we found a
reduced melatonin AUC, primarily in the morning hours,
in pregnant DP versus HC (Parry et al., 2008a). In the
present study, synthesis AUC was significantly reduced
in conjunction with longer versus shorter darkness, but
only in DP, not in HC. Thus, despite an abundant
literature showing that increased darkness enhances
melatonin duration, we found melatonin synthesis AUC
was reduced in DP versus HC under conditions of
seasonally longer versus shorter darkness. This finding
suggests that pregnant DP respond anomalously to
seasonal changes in darkness. Souetre et al. (1989) also
found a reduced melatonin amplitude in depressed
patients, and a significant negative correlation between
HRSD scores and melatonin amplitude. Sandyk and
Awerbuch (1993a) detected a reduced mean melatonin
level and a phase advance in the melatonin secretion
offset in multiple sclerosis patients with histories of
affective illness. Sandyk and Awerbuch (1993b) also
found a lower mean melatonin level in psychiatric
patients who had attempted suicide and/or expressed
suicidal ideation. Kripke et al. (2007) found that increased
light during the day was associated with increased
melatonin secretion at night in postmenopausal women.
Cortisol Timing Effects
Like melatonin SynOff, cortisol acrophase was phaseadvanced in DP during periods of increased darkness,
and the melatonin SynOff and cortisol acrophase were
positively correlated. Furthermore, the median split
analyses showed a highly reliable phase advance in
cortisol acrophase of approximately 98 min (p ¼ 0.001)
under conditions of longer versus shorter darkness in
DP. That these alterations were absent in HC supports
the interpretation that the significant phase advances
we observed in cortisol timing during pregnancy reflect
primarily timing, not amplitude differences between DP
and HC in their responses to seasonally increased
darkness.
An early study (Lohrenz et al., 1969) described a
phase advance in cortisol secretion in depression. To
our knowledge, ours is the first study to report a
significant phase advance in cortisol acrophase in
pregnant DP, occurring in conjunction with seasonally
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Antepartum Depression in Seasonally Longer Nights
longer nights and a phase advance in melatonin timing.
In a sample of depressed women who were not pregnant, Young et al. (2001) found no reliable difference in
the timing of the cortisol maximum in DP versus HC.
Koenigsberg et al. (2004), however, found a phase
advance in the cortisol circadian rhythm in a group of
14 male and 8 female depressed patients. These authors
interpreted their results as consistent with a circadian
dysregulation hypothesis of depression. Our findings of
advances in cortisol and melatonin timing are consistent with these findings and this hypothesis. In light of
the disparate findings regarding the chronobiology of
depression in different populations (see Parry et al.,
2006a, 2006b)—e.g., phase-delayed chronobiologic parameters in SAD, phase-advanced parameters in pregnant depression—a dysregulation hypothesis as applied
to receptor sensitivity by Siever and Davis (1985), which
proposes that either advances or delays in melatonin
and cortisol timing may be associated with increased
depression severity, seems more appropriate than a
unitary, directional hypothesis.
Cortisol Quantity Effects
Although cortisol elevation in association with major
depression is widely reported (Dinan & Scott, 2005;
Rubin et al., 2001), a recent meta-analysis (Knorr et al.,
2010) found no reliable differences between HC versus
DP in the case of salivary cortisol. A central question we
sought to address was whether serum cortisol quantity
was elevated in association with antepartum depression.
We found cortisol mesor was highly correlated with
gestation week in HC as well as DP, but cortisol
amplitude was not. We also detected no significant
differences in HC versus DP in cortisol mesor or
amplitude. King et al. (2010) compared a group of
pregnant women experiencing medical problems during
pregnancy with healthy controls. Although those women
with medical disorders were significantly more anxious
and depressed than controls, there were no significant
differences between the groups in cortisol levels, as we
found for HC versus DP. Suzuki et al. (1993) reported a
trend towards decreased amplitude in the cortisol
rhythm during healthy pregnancy, in association with
a suppression of the early morning cortisol rise.
Published studies of cortisol during pregnancy are
rare and results are inconsistent. Salacz et al. (2012)
found depression and anxiety were associated with
subjective distress in pregnant women, but not with
elevated plasma cortisol. In contrast, Field et al. (2006a)
reported a high degree of intercorrelation among cortisol levels, depression, and problems during pregnancy,
such as back pain, leg pain, and sleep disturbances
during the third trimester. Focusing on the second
trimester, O’Keane et al. (2010) found elevated cortisol
in the evening—i.e., at the time when cortisol levels are
normally low—in depressed versus normal control
pregnant women. We found no significant difference
in DP versus HC in the evening cortisol nadir, and in
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1169
preliminary tests (data not shown) we found no significant group differences at any time intervals between
18:00 and 11:00 h of the following morning; therefore,
we opted to focus on the cortisol mesor as an index of
total cortisol during the test interval. The discrepancy
between our results and those of O’Keane et al. (2010),
and of Field et al. (2006a) could relate to the differences
in sampling times, and the fact that our data were
collected across all three trimesters, rather than only the
second or third. In depressed women who were not
pregnant, Young et al. (2001) found only a nonsignificant trend toward elevated cortisol, and a clear cortisol
elevation in only 24% of their depressed patients.
Cortisol elevation may be present in only ca. 25–30%
of patients with depression (Young et al., 2001).
Notably, we found that although cortisol was elevated
during pregnancy to comparable degrees in both DP
and HC, cortisol mesor was positively correlated with
HRSD score in DP, but not HC (Figure 6). An important
implication of this finding is that the ubiquitous cortisol
elevation occurring during pregnancy (Field et al.,
2006a, 2006b; Mastorakos & Ilias, 2003) is not uniformly
associated with increased depression severity. For some
pregnant women, cortisol elevation is dissociated from
untoward mood consequences; for others, it is a
biomarker of depression severity.
Melancholic Versus Atypical Symptoms
The fact that increased cortisol mesor in DP was
associated with an elevated HRSD score, but not the
SIGH-SAD atypical depression score, supports the
hypothesis that cortisol elevation may be a correlate
of melancholic, rather than atypical, depression
(Kammerer et al., 2006; Young et al., 2001). Lamers
et al. (2012) compared cortisol AUCs of 111 chronically
depressed people diagnosed with melancholic depression versus 122 diagnosed with atypical depression.
Cortisol was significantly higher in subjects with melancholic depression compared with nondepressed controls, or patients with atypical depression. The authors
interpreted their findings as evidence of increased HPAaxis activity in melancholic versus atypical depression. A
recent review (Harald & Gordon, 2012) suggests that
cortisol may be reduced in atypical depression, relative
to control or melancholic depression. Some defining
clinical features of SAD (hypersomnia, hyperphagia,
irritability) are thought to be more common in atypical
depression than in melancholia (Howland, 2009; Wehr
et al., 1991).
Conclusion
Our findings indicate that antepartum depressions share
some features with winter depressions, e.g., greater
depressed mood during periods of seasonally longer
darkness in association with altered melatonin and/or
cortisol timing and quantity. Notably, Wehr (1998)
found that nondepressed urban women, on average,
were more likely than men to show alterations in
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C. J. Meliska et al.
melatonin duration during winter months; roughly 1/3
of women versus 1/8 of men evidenced changes in
winter. That women with antepartum major depression
may be more sensitive than nondepressed women to
seasonal variations in melatonin and cortisol chronobiology suggests there may be two groups of pregnant
women: (a) those who respond to seasonally reduced
daylight with phase advances in melatonin and cortisol
timing, diminished melatonin quantity, and increased
symptoms of melancholic depression versus (b) those
whose melatonin and cortisol timing and quantity
remain relatively invariant with seasonally increased
darkness, and in whom depression severity does not
increase. Kripke (1983) proposed that a biological
predisposition toward internal desynchronization of
circadian rhythms could sensitize some individuals to
depression. Evans et al. (2012) recently showed that
individual differences in susceptibility to light-modulated alterations in circadian wave form occur in the
Siberian hamster.
Finally, our data imply that seasonality contributes to
existing, especially melancholic, depression severity,
rather than being a primary etiologic factor in antenatal
depression. Factors such as genetic vulnerability, personal and family history of depression, anxiety, chronotype, and social zeitgebers must also be recognized as
potential determinants of depressive mood.
Implications for Treatment and Research
These findings suggest important implications for our
understanding of the relationship of chronobiologic
variables to mood, and to potential antidepressant
chronotherapies during pregnancy. Circadian rhythm
dysregulation as reported here may contribute to antepartum depression severity, and interventions that
normalize circadian rhythms might relieve depressive
symptoms. Although significant benefits relative to
placebo light have not been obtained in all studies
(Corral et al., 2007b; Even et al., 2008; Lanfumey et al.,
2013; Parry et al., 1993), critically timed exposure to light
(‘‘bright light therapy’’) has been shown to ameliorate
some nonseasonal depressions, possibly by synchronizing circadian rhythms (Dallaspezia & Benedetti, 2011;
Dallaspezia et al., 2012; Lieverse et al., 2011; Wirz-Justice
et al., 2004, 2005, 2011). Light treatment represents a
potentially viable option for women who do not wish to
use pharmacologic means to alter mood during pregnancy (Yonkers et al., 2009). In cases where depressive
symptoms are associated with phase advances in melatonin and cortisol timing, such as might occur with
antepartum depression during seasonally longer nights,
evening bright light would be the indicated treatment, as
it would be expected to phase-delay, and thereby
normalize, circadian parameters. In a recent study in
nonseasonally depressed pregnant women, however,
Wirz-Justice et al. (2011) found that 5 wks of bright
morning light decreased depression symptoms significantly better than a dim light placebo. Chronobiologic
correlates of the mood improvement were not evaluated. Notably, Oren et al. (2002) found reduced antepartum depression in women exposed to morning light,
as did Epperson et al. (2004), who found a significant
antidepressant effect in pregnant women in conjunction
with a phase advance in melatonin timing after 10 wks
of bright morning light.
Limitations
Our use of small sample sizes in this study opens the
possibility that the study may have been underpowered
to detect some differences, e.g., those associated
with longer versus shorter darkness in the HC group
(Table 3). Indeed, power analyses showed effect sizes for
some melatonin comparisons of approximately 0.50 or
greater in the HC group. Nevertheless, these differences
were in the direction opposite to those found in the DP;
i.e., whereas DP showed significant phase advances in
DLMO and synthesis offset under conditions of
increased darkness, HC exhibited (nonsignificant) differences in the direction of phase delays. Thus, all other
things being equal, increasing the HC sample sizes
could only be expected to further increase the differences between HC and DP in their responses to
seasonally mediated longer versus shorter darkness.
However, replication with larger samples is necessary to
insure the reliability of these results. Furthermore, a
more complete design that included nonpregnant
healthy and nonpregnant depressed women would
have been preferable, as this would have enhanced the
generalizability of the results.
The cross-sectional nature of the study is a limitation,
since subjects were accepted for study only during
seasons in which they volunteered, rather than being
assigned for study equally across all seasons.
Additionally, since all participants resided in San
Diego County, 32 450 N latitude, they were exposed to
only modest fluctuations (ca. 4.5 h) in daylight from
summer to winter. Different outcomes could occur in
locations with greater seasonal variations in daylight
between winter and summer.
Finally, the HRSD was not designed for use with
healthy subjects, but rather was designed to be used as
an index of symptom severity in individuals already
diagnosed with depression.
DECLARATION OF INTEREST
The authors report no conflicts of interest. The
authors alone are responsible for the content and
writing of the paper.
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