Parity modulates impact of BMI and Gestational Weight Gain on gut microbiota in human pregnancy

Abstract

Shifts in the gut microbiome have been implicated in mediating maternal metabolic adaptations to pregnancy. We investigated the impact of pre-pregnancy BMI (pBMI) and gestational weight gain (GWG) on pregnancy-associated remodeling of the maternal gut microbiome and infant colonization, and whether previous pregnancies modulated observed associations. We found that the gut microbiota of participants with higher pBMI changed less over the course of pregnancy in primiparous, but not multiparous participants This suggests that previous pregnancies may have persistent impacts on maternal microbiotal adaptations to pregnancy. This ecological memory appears to be passed to the next generation, as parity impacted infant microbial composition of first-pass meconium and modulated the impact of maternal GWG on the infant gut microbiome. This work supports a role for the gut microbiome in maternal adaptations to pregnancy and highlights parity as a key consideration for studies of the microbiome in pregnancy and infants.

Sources of gut microbiota variation in a large longitudinal Finnish infant cohort

“…Recently, infants with older siblings were found to have a more mature gut microbiota at 1 year, which in turn was associated with a lower prevalence of food allergy. 46 However, recent papers indicate that parity modulates the maternal gut 47 , 48 and vaginal microbiota 49 during pregnancy, and thus could affect the microbiome transferred to the offspring. Analyses stratified by delivery mode and intrapartum antibiotics revealed clear birth mode-dependent temporal patterns, suggesting early effects seen mainly in infants delivered vaginally without antibiotics are likely of maternal origin transmitted during the delivery.…”

Association between labor epidural analgesia and gut microbiota: A prospective cohort study

“…The common differential bacteria of the two methods were used in further analyses. Based on the common differential bacteria, Spearman analysis was used to analyze the correlation between these bacteria and clinical factors (age, BMI, parity, PSRS36 scores, and PRAQ-R scores) [ 9 , [32] , [33] , [34] ] as well as intrapartum variables (highest temperature and duration of labor). Finally, a multivariable analysis of general liner model (GLM) was used to analyze the effect of LEA on gut microbiota with adjustment for possible confounders.…”

Exploring the effect of prenatal maternal stress on the microbiomes of mothers and infants: A systematic review

“…More recently, parity and prepregnancy BMI have been identified as factors that can stimulate changes in maternal microbiota during pregnancy (Kennedy et al, 2022). Specifically, primiparous mothers with higher prepregnancy BMI experienced fewer changes in their microbial composition over the course of pregnancy than multiparous mothers.…”

“…Conversely, other studies have reported different patterns of change or no significant alterations in the gut microbiome throughout pregnancy (DiGiulio et al., 2015). More recently, parity and prepregnancy BMI have been identified as factors that can stimulate changes in maternal microbiota during pregnancy (Kennedy et al., 2022). Specifically, primiparous mothers with higher prepregnancy BMI experienced fewer changes in their microbial composition over the course of pregnancy than multiparous mothers.…”