Luellwitz co-authors publication in Biological Research for Nursing

Ryan Luellwitz, DO, clinical associate professor in the Division of Academic Specialists in Ob-Gyn, recently co-authored a publication in Biological Research for Nursing. Co-authors include Katelyn Desorcy-Sherer, PhD, RN; Kerry McNamara, BSN; Eliot Stanton, PhD; and Ibrahim Zuniga-Chaves, PhD. 

In “Early Insights Into Maternal Antidepressant Use and the Human Infant Gut Microbiome”, Luellwitz and co-authors investigated the developmental impact of perinatal antidepressant use on the infant gut microbiome. The authors enrolled a perinatal population of participants both taking and not taking antidepressant medications into a pilot cohort to preliminarily explore the effects of antidepressant treatment on the infant gut microbiome in early life. The intent of this pilot study is to provide guidance and hypothesis generation for future, larger studies that will generate powered estimates of treatment effects. The researchers found that: 

“... analyses suggest that effects of maternal antidepressant treatment on the human infant gut microbiome may be subtle. Nonetheless, several genera of interest emerged, including Gemella, Lactobacillus, Staphylococcus and Corynebacterium. Of our results, the finding that members of the Lactobacillus and Staphylococcus genera may be differentially abundant in infants with maternal SSRI exposure could be clinically relevant.”

Although the data do not conclusively determine the relationship between maternal antidepressant exposure and the infant gut microbiome, it is an important first step in translation to human populations.

Read the whole article here. 

**by Ob-Gyn Communications Intern Melis Baskaya