Gelman PL, et al. - Researchers sought to understand how anxiety and cytokines are related during pregnancy by assessing women with severe depression (SD) and severe anxiety (SA) during the third trimester of pregnancy (n = 139) vs control subjects exhibiting neither (n = 40). Depression and anxiety were estimated using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) and the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HARS) and serum cytokines were measured by a multiplex bead-based assay. There were different cytokine profiles between pregnant women with SA and comorbid SD vs those showing only SA with no depression. Women with SD + SA had the greatest levels of Th1- (IL-6, TNF-α, IL-2, IFN-γ), Th17- (IL-17A, IL-22), and Th2- (IL-9, IL-10, and IL-13) related cytokines. Th1- (IL-6, TNF-α, IL-2, IFN-γ) and Th2- (IL-4, and IL-10) related cytokines were observed in greater concentrations in the SA group vs controls. The SA group had positive associations between HDRS and IL-2, IL-6, and TNF-α, while the SD + SA group displayed positive associations between HDRS and Th1- (IL-2, IL-6, TNF-α), Th2- (IL-9, IL-10, IL-13) and Th17- (IL-17A) cytokines. Associations that were still significant after controlling the correlation analysis by gestational weeks were HDRS and IL-2, IL-6, IL-9, and IL-17A in the SD + SA group. HARS scores correlated with IL-17A in the SA group and with IL-17A, IL-17F, and IL-2 in the SD + SA group.