Michigan cohorts to determine associations of maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index with pregnancy and infant gastrointestinal microbial communities: Late pregnancy and early infancy

Abstract

BackgroundAbout 25% of women in the United States are obese prior to becoming pregnant. Although there is some knowledge about the relationship between the gastrointestinal microbiota and obesity, little is known about the relationship between pre-pregnancy obesity and the gastrointestinal microbiota in pregnancy or its impact on infant gut microbiota. However, the composition of the gut microbiota early in life may influence childhood health. Thus, the objective of this research was to identify associations between maternal pre-pregnancy obesity and the pregnancy (n = 39) or early infancy (n = 39) microbiotas.ResultsFecal bacterial communities from overweight women had lower microbiota diversity (Chao1: p = 0.02; inverse Simpson: p = 0.05; Shannon: p = 0.02) than communities from normal weight or obese women. The within-group microbiota composition of overweight women differed from those of normal and obese women at the genus and phylum levels (p = 0.003 and p = 0.02, respectively). Pre-pregnancy overweight women had higher abundances of Bacteroides and lower Phascolarctobacterium than women who were normal weight or obese prior to becoming pregnant. Normal weight women had lower abundances of Acidaminococcus and Dialister than overweight and obese women. Infant community composition tended to differ in membership (Sorensen index) by maternal pre-pregnancy BMI category, and significantly differed by delivery mode and breastfeeding exclusivity (p = 0.06, p = 0.001, p = 0.008, respectively). Infants from normal weight women had lower abundances of Megasphaera than infants from overweight or obese women. Streptococcus was lowest in infants from overweight women, and Staphylococcus was lowest in infants from obese women.ConclusionMaternal and infant microbiotas are associated with and might be affected by maternal pre-pregnancy BMI. Future work should determine if there are also functional differences in the infant microbiome, if those functional differences are related to maternal pre-pregnancy BMI, and whether differences in composition or traits persist over time.

Prenatal and postnatal determinants in shaping offspring’s microbiome in the first 1000 days: study protocol and preliminary results at one month of life

“…Higher Firmicutes levels and a higher ratio Firmicutes/ Bacteroidetes were often observed in subjects affected by overweight or obesity [54]. Among Firmicutes, we found an over representation of Streptococcus in infants born to mothers whit a pre-pregnancy BMI ≥ 25 Kg/m 2 , in contrast with the recent study of Kameron Y. Sugino et al [55].…”

“…Excessive weight gain during pregnancy is known to be one of the maternal factors affecting the gut microbial composition of the newborn to delivery to adulthood [11] and previous human studies showed that children born to women who were affected by obesity or overweight during pregnancy exhibited significant variations in gut microbiome composition at the different stages of life, when compared with those from normal-weight mothers [20,21].…”

Perinatal risk factors for fecal antibiotic resistance gene patterns in pregnant women and their infants

“…All samples were collected as part of the ARCH GUT and BABY GUT cohorts in Lansing and Traverse City, MI [24]. The aim of ARCH GUT and BABY GUT cohorts was to understand how maternal and/or child gut microbiome can modify the effect of pregnancy-related weight, weight changes and social circumstances on childhood obesity.…”

Establishment of the early-life microbiome: a DOHaD perspective

“…The gut microbiota of infants of obese mothers varies from that of infants of lean mothers, [174][175][176][177][178] although this effect may be birth mode-dependent. 176 When stool from 2-week-old infants born of obese mothers (Inf-ObM) or infants born of lean mothers was transferred to germ-free mice, the Inf-ObM colonised mice showed gut dysbiosis, increased intestinal permeability, and increased susceptibility to obesity when exposed to a Western diet.…”