Divine Aleru, Microbiome Medicine Research Coordinator

This review explores the prevalence of postpartum depression (PPD) among African mothers, highlighting significant variation across countries and the need for culturally validated diagnostic tools to improve screening and treatment in postpartum care.

This review examines how cultural factors influence postpartum depression, identifying both protective and harmful cultural practices. It emphasizes the need for culturally sensitive care and highlights the role of social support systems in mitigating depressive symptoms.

This review explores women’s experiences with psychological treatments for postpartum depression, emphasizing the importance of personalized care, supportive relationships, and social support systems. It highlights the positive outcomes of treatments like CBT and home visits, while stressing the need for flexibility and empathy in treatment delivery.

This review explores how deficiencies or imbalances in zinc, magnesium, iron, and copper contribute to postpartum depression. It supports trace element supplementation as a nonpharmacologic treatment strategy and calls for further research to solidify clinical protocols and explore microbiome interactions.

This study explored VAGINNE®, a Lactobacillus fermentation broth, showing strong anti-Candida and anti-inflammatory effects in mice with VVC. It enhanced microbiome health and reduced proinflammatory cytokines, highlighting a promising probiotic alternative to antifungal drugs.

This umbrella review synthesizes research on postpartum depression risk factors, highlighting prenatal depression and current abuse as the strongest predictors. It emphasizes the need for targeted screening and early intervention to improve maternal health and outcomes for both mothers and their children.

This review emphasizes peripartum depression as distinct from general depression, featuring pronounced anxiety, psychomotor symptoms, and obsessive thoughts, urging expanded diagnostic criteria to cover the full peripartum year and specific maternal symptomatology, crucial for improved diagnosis and tailored intervention.

This study identifies significant barriers preventing women from seeking help for postpartum depression, notably stigma and socio-cultural factors. Active help-seeking behaviors significantly increase diagnosis rates, highlighting the importance of mental health education and stigma-reduction efforts, especially among Asian/Pacific Islander women and those with intended pregnancies.

This review examines the prevalence and risk factors of postpartum depression in Vietnam, highlighting significant socio-economic, cultural, and personal contributors. It calls for early screening and more comprehensive support for mothers, especially in rural areas.

This comprehensive review of postpartum depression (PPD) explores its pathophysiology, risk factors, and treatment options. It emphasizes the need for early diagnosis, multidisciplinary care, and further research into the neurobiological causes of PPD to improve prevention and treatment strategies.

This review analyzes the risk factors for postpartum depression (PPD), highlighting key predictors such as a history of depression, lack of support, gestational diabetes, and birth complications. It calls for early screening and targeted interventions to address PPD and mitigate its long-term effects on mothers and children.

This systematic review examines postpartum depression in Arab countries, revealing varying prevalence rates and highlighting socio-economic, marital, and health-related factors as major risk predictors. It advocates for routine screening and culturally sensitive interventions to address PPD effectively.

This review clarifies the role of vaginal microbiota in health and recurrent infections, highlighting Lactobacillus complexity, pathogen interactions, and the need for personalized diagnostic and treatment approaches. It calls for deeper exploration into fungal and parasitic vaginal microbiome components to enhance understanding and clinical care of recurrent vulvovaginal infections.

This contemporary survey validates historical data on VVC/RVVC prevalence, identifying common symptoms, risk factors, and treatment outcomes. It highlights antibiotics as a major risk factor and emphasizes the superior efficacy of physician-managed care compared to self-treatment, reinforcing the need for ongoing improvements in management strategies.

This review examines metal nanoparticles as innovative antifungal agents against Candida albicans. It highlights their multi-target actions, synergistic potential with antifungal drugs, and drug delivery benefits while emphasizing the need for further safety studies and clinical validation to combat resistance and biofilm-related infections.

This review clarifies mechanisms behind vulvovaginal candidiasis, emphasizing candidalysin-driven inflammation, microbiome complexity, and the potential of inflammasome-targeted therapies. It highlights Candida albicans’ dominance, underscores mixed roles for Lactobacillus, and suggests personalized treatments and vaccine strategies as essential future directions in managing VVC.

This review discusses vaginal microbiota imbalance in vulvovaginal candidiasis and evaluates probiotics, postbiotics, synbiotics, and vaginal microbiota transplantation as novel treatments to improve outcomes and reduce antifungal resistance.

The study showed Candida albicans can resist and efficiently biosorb heavy metals, especially chromium, from contaminated water and soil. Optimal removal depends on pH, temperature, biomass state, and carbon source, highlighting C. albicans as a promising bioremediation agent for heavy metal pollution.

This review assesses management strategies for recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis, highlighting the limitations of current antifungal treatments, rising resistance concerns, and potential novel therapies. Emphasis is placed on accurate diagnostics, microbiome considerations, and individualized treatment approaches to improve patient outcomes.

This review consolidates current knowledge on vulvovaginal candidosis, highlighting Candida albicans virulence factors, diagnostic challenges, and the need for precise clinical differentiation between colonization and infection. It advocates for microbiome-informed diagnostics, improved management strategies, and future research into antifungal resistance and novel therapeutic options.

This review highlights the role of diet and micronutrients in modulating PMS symptoms, showing potential benefits of calcium, magnesium, vitamin D, and B vitamins, while emphasizing the need for personalized nutritional approaches and further microbiome-focused research.

This study found that adherence to the Traditional South China Diet, rich in rice and animal proteins, is linked to reduced premenstrual disorders. Dietary patterns may influence PMD symptoms, suggesting the potential for tailored nutrition and microbiome-targeted therapies in management.

PMS and PMDD stem from neuroendocrine and neurochemical imbalances, especially altered allopregnanolone and GABA activity. Hormonal and neuroactive therapies improve symptoms, while microbiome and neuroinflammation represent promising research areas.

Management of comorbid PMDD and bipolar disorder requires mood stabilization first, cautious use of antidepressants, hormonal therapy, and adjunctive psychotherapy. Evidence is limited, highlighting the need for personalized, multidisciplinary care and further research.