Extracellular Vesicles and the Placenta-Brain Axis: Mechanisms of Shared Risk in Pregnancy and Perinatal Psychiatry.

Disorders of pregnancy and psychiatric conditions in mothers and affected children have high rates of comorbidity and underlying mechanistic overlap. We propose that extracellular vesicles (EVs) may subserve this shared psycho-obstetric risk. EVs are small lipid bilayer-bound particles containing regulatory nucleic acids and proteins that are released from cells into circulation, where they readily cross blood-brain and placental barriers. In pregnancy, EVs are produced in large numbers by the placenta and have been implicated in pregnancy-related medical and psychiatric conditions via vascular, endocrine, and immune mechanisms.