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REVIEW article
Front. Endocrinol.
Sec. Neuroendocrine Science
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fendo.2025.1561848
This article is part of the Research Topic Exploring the Impact of Stress on Women's Mental Health View all articles
The role of the neuroinflammation and stressors in premenstrual syndrome/premenstrual dysphoric disorder:A review
Provisionally accepted
Ming Cheng 1 Zhao shu Jiang 1
Jie Yang 1 Xu Sun 2 Nan Song 2 Chun yu Du 2 Zhen liang Luo 1
Zhen Zhang 1*- 1 Guizhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guiyang, China
- 2 Qinhuangdao Shanhaiguan Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd, Qinhuangdao, China
Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) are prevalent emotional disorders in females, characterized by cyclic variations in physiological stress responses and emotional symptoms that correspond with the menstrual cycle. Despite extensive research, the underlying causes of these disorders remain elusive. This review delves into the neurobiological mechanisms connecting stress-induced neuroinflammation with PMS/PMDD. Additionally, it traces the conceptual development and historical context of PMS/PMDD. The review further evaluates clinical evidence on the association between PMS/PMDD and stress, along with findings from both clinical and animal studies that link these disorders to inflammatory processes. Additionally, the neurobiological pathways by which inflammatory responses may play a role in the pathogenesis of PMS/PMDD were elucidated, including their interactions with the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovary (HPO) axis, serotoninkynurenine (5-HT -KYN) system, GABAergic system, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), hypothalamic-pituitary-adrena(HPA)axis and. Future research is encouraged to further investigate the pathogenesis of PMS/PMDD through the perspective of neuroinflammatory responses.
Keywords: Neuroinflammation, Premenstrual Syndrome, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, stress, Blood-Brain Barrier, Kynurenine
Received: 17 Jan 2025; Accepted: 10 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Cheng, Jiang, Yang, Sun, Song, Du, Luo and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Zhen Zhang, Guizhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guiyang, China
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