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CompletedNCT04271072Updated Dec 20, 2023

CSF/Serum Biomarkers in Predicting PND/Persistent Pain After Cesarean

An observational study in Perinatal Depression and Chronic Pain, sponsored by Duke University. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to female participants aged 18 Years to 40 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2023-12-20.

Sponsored by Duke University · Observational

Study type
Observational
Model
Cohort
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
81
Ages
18 Years to 40 Years
Sex
Female
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Study summary

The aim is to investigate if inflammatory biomarkers in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) are associated with the development of perinatal depression and/or persistent pain after cesarean delivery.

This study will obtain CSF and blood samples in 70 parturients. All parturients will be assessed for perinatal depression and persistent pain, and the presence/absence of these outcomes will be correlated to changes in the inflammatory biomarkers within the samples collected. If present, consistent changes in biomarkers correlating with perinatal depression or persistent pain may be utilised as a predictive tool and facilitate early treatment for these conditions.

Read the detailed description

Persistent pain and perinatal depression (PND) contribute significantly to maternal morbidity and mortality after cesarean delivery. Neuroinflammation has been associated with both persistent pain and perinatal depression, and may therefore be a common etiological process, however, little is known of the association between neuroinflammation and persistent pain or PND in parturients undergoing cesarean delivery.

Aim 1: To compare neuroinflammatory cytokine profiles (in CSF and plasma samples within 48 hours after surgery) between the cohort of parturients that develop the composite outcome of persistent pain or PND (defined below), versus the cohort of parturients that did not develop this outcome.

Aim 2. To determine the correlation between the neuroinflammatory cytokine profiles of CSF and plasma.

Exploratory aim: To determine the change in plasma inflammatory cytokine profile from the antenatal to the postnatal period, and correlate this change with preoperative quantitative sensory tests, acute postsurgical pain severity, and development of persistent pain and/or PND. To examine proteomics in CSF and correlate with persistent pain and/or PND.

This is a prospective cohort study of 70 adult parturients undergoing elective cesarean delivery at Duke University Hospital. After obtaining informed consent, baseline demographic data, the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), mechanical temporal summation (MTS), and pain-pressure threshold (PPT) tests will be administered. During IV cannulation, 10ml of blood will be collected, and up to 10ml CSF will be collected during spinal anesthesia. After cesarean delivery, pain scores, analgesia requirements, and data on adverse events will be collected. Additional 10ml of blood will be collected within 48 hours post-surgery during inpatient hospital stay. During the routine 6-week postnatal follow up, EPDS scores will be recorded, and at 3-months, EPDS and persistent pain assessment will be conducted over the phone.

Based on a composite endpoint of persistent pain (pain at 3 months after surgery) or PND (EPDS of 10 or greater, during pregnancy or within 3 months after delivery), parturients will be stratified into "study" or "control" cohorts. Using a validated multiplex quantitative proteomic approach, candidate biomarkers will be quantified and correlated against the composite outcome using two-sided Mann-Whitney U test. Correlation between CSF and plasma cytokines will be assessed using spearman correlation. The exploratory aim will be analyzed with generalized linear models.

02

Conditions studied

  • Perinatal Depression
  • Chronic Pain

Keywords

  • Neuroinflammation
  • Biomarker
  • Cesarean delivery
  • Cytokines
  • Cerebrospinal fluid
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In context

Asphyxia Neonatorum

106 studies on the registry are indexed under Asphyxia Neonatorum; 23 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 81 is below the median of 183 across 20 observational studies indexed under Asphyxia Neonatorum.

Browse Asphyxia Neonatorum studies →

Lead sponsor

Duke University is the lead sponsor of 2,025 studies on the registry; 275 are open to participants now.

Of its 194 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 159 (82%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

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Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 40 Years
Sexes eligible
Female
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes
Sampling method
Non-probability sample

Study population

Tertiary care hospital, specialist obstetric unit

Inclusion criteria

  • American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) class 2 and 3
  • English speaking
  • 18 years or older
  • Singleton pregnancy
  • Gestational age > 37 weeks
  • Scheduled cesarean delivery under spinal or combined spinal epidural anesthesia

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Intravenous drug or chronic opioid use
  • Anti-depressant or anxiolytic drug use
  • Allergy to standard of care drugs
  • Cesarean delivery under general anesthesia or epidural anesthesia
  • Pre-eclampsia needing magnesium sulfate
  • Chronic PO/IV analgesic or glucocorticoids
  • History of chronic pain syndromes
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Study design

Observational model
Cohort
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
81 participants (actual)
Patient registry
No
Biospecimen retention
Samples with dna

Groups and cohorts

  • Study

    Parturients that underwent cesarean delivery and is POSITIVE for the composite outcome of either: * perinatal depression (Edinburgh postnatal depression scale \>=10 during pregnancy or within 3 months after delivery), and/or * persistent pain (pain score \>=3 at pelvic or lower abdominal areas at 3 months after delivery)

    Other: No intervention

  • Control

    Parturients that underwent cesarean delivery and is NEGATIVE for the composite outcome of both: * perinatal depression (Edinburgh postnatal depression scale \>=10 during pregnancy or within 3 months after delivery), AND * persistent pain (pain score \>=3 at pelvic or lower abdominal areas at 3 months after delivery)

    Other: No intervention

Interventions

  • OtherNo intervention

    No intervention

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What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Perinatal depression

    Edinburgh postnatal depression scale \>=10 (minimum 0, maximum 30, increasing score indicates higher likelihood of depression)

    Time frame: Up to 3 months after delivery

  2. Persistent pain: Pain score

    Pain score \>=3 at pelvic or lower abdominal areas (minimum 0, maximum 10, higher score indicates greater pain)

    Time frame: Up to 3 months after delivery

  3. Inflammatory cytokines/biomarkers

    Biomarkers from CSF and plasma samples will be quantified using Meso Scale Discovery multiplex kit (K15210D), for: CRP, Eotaxin, Eotaxin-3, FGF (basic), ICAM-1, IFN-γ, IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-7, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12/IL-23p40, IL-13, IL-15, IL-16, IL-17A, IP-10, MCP-1, MCP-4, MDC, MIP-1α, MIP-1β, PlGF, SAA, TARC, Tie-2, TNF-α, TNF-β, VCAM-1, VEGF-A, VEGF-C, VEGF-D, VEGFR-1/Flt-1. The levels of these biomarkers will be compared between the group with depression/persistent pain, versus the group without depression/persistent pain.

    Time frame: Up to 24 hours after surgery

Secondary outcomes

  1. CSF compared to plasma inflammatory cytokines/biomarkers

    Biomarkers will be quantified using Meso Scale Discovery multiplex kit (K15210D), for: CRP, Eotaxin, Eotaxin-3, FGF (basic), ICAM-1, IFN-γ, IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-7, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12/IL-23p40, IL-13, IL-15, IL-16, IL-17A, IP-10, MCP-1, MCP-4, MDC, MIP-1α, MIP-1β, PlGF, SAA, TARC, Tie-2, TNF-α, TNF-β, VCAM-1, VEGF-A, VEGF-C, VEGF-D, VEGFR-1/Flt-1 The CSF and plasma levels of these biomarkers will be compared within each group (group with depression/persistent pain, versus group without depression/persistent pain)

    Time frame: Preoperative samples

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Study locations

1 site
  • Duke University Medical Center
    Durham, North Carolina 27710, United States
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Kohler CA, Freitas TH, Maes M, de Andrade NQ, Liu CS, Fernandes BS, Stubbs B, Solmi M, Veronese N, Herrmann N, Raison CL, Miller BJ, Lanctot KL, Carvalho AF. Peripheral cytokine and chemokine alterations in depression: a meta-analysis of 82 studies. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 2017 May;135(5):373-387. doi: 10.1111/acps.12698. Epub 2017 Jan 25. PubMed 28122130 ↗
  • Miller ES, Sakowicz A, Roy A, Yang A, Sullivan JT, Grobman WA, Wisner KL. Plasma and cerebrospinal fluid inflammatory cytokines in perinatal depression. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2019 Mar;220(3):271.e1-271.e10. doi: 10.1016/j.ajog.2018.12.015. Epub 2018 Dec 14. PubMed 30557551 ↗
  • Osborne LM, Monk C. Perinatal depression--the fourth inflammatory morbidity of pregnancy?: Theory and literature review. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2013 Oct;38(10):1929-52. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2013.03.019. Epub 2013 Apr 20. PubMed 23608136 ↗
  • Dowlati Y, Herrmann N, Swardfager W, Liu H, Sham L, Reim EK, Lanctot KL. A meta-analysis of cytokines in major depression. Biol Psychiatry. 2010 Mar 1;67(5):446-57. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2009.09.033. Epub 2009 Dec 16. PubMed 20015486 ↗
  • Ji RR, Nackley A, Huh Y, Terrando N, Maixner W. Neuroinflammation and Central Sensitization in Chronic and Widespread Pain. Anesthesiology. 2018 Aug;129(2):343-366. doi: 10.1097/ALN.0000000000002130. PubMed 29462012 ↗

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

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Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Dec 20, 2023, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT04271072
Lead sponsor
Duke University
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Feb 17, 2020
Start date
Feb 1, 2020
Primary completion
Feb 28, 2022
Completion
Feb 28, 2022
Last update
Dec 20, 2023

Study contacts

Mary Yurashevich
principal investigator · Duke University

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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