Review: Maternal health and the placental microbiome

Abstract

Over the past decade, the role of the microbiome in regulating metabolism, immune function and behavior in humans has become apparent. It has become clear that the placenta is not a sterile organ, but rather has its own endogenous microbiome. The composition of the placental microbiome is distinct from that of the vagina and has been reported to resemble the oral microbiome. Compared to the gut microbiome, the placental microbiome exhibits limited microbial diversity. This review will focus on the current understanding of the placental microbiota in normal healthy pregnancy and also in disease states including preterm birth, chorioamnionitis and maternal conditions such as obesity, gestational diabetes mellitus and preeclampsia. Factors known to alter the composition of the placental microbiota will be discussed in the final part of this review.

No effects without causes: the Iron Dysregulation and Dormant Microbes hypothesis for chronic, inflammatory diseases

“…Bassis et al ., ; Budden et al ., ; Dickson et al ., , , b ; Dickson & Huffnagle, ; Huffnagle, Dickson & Lukacs, ; O'Dwyer, Dickson & Moore, ; Samuelson, Welsh & Shellito, ; Vientós‐Plotts et al ., , b ), neck tissue (Wang et al ., ), breast tissue (Wang et al ., ), and both seminal fluid (Craig et al ., ; Hou et al ., ; Javurek et al ., ; Kenny & Kell, ; C.M. Liu et al ., ; Mändar et al ., ; Weng et al ., ) and the placenta (Aagaard et al ., ; Amarasekara et al ., ; Antony et al ., ; Collado et al ., ; Pelzer et al ., ; Prince et al ., ; Tarazi, Agostoni & Kim, ; Zheng et al ., ) ( cf . Lauder et al ., ).…”

Placental microbiota and its role in the development of intra-amniotic infection

“…Побочные эффекты патологической прибавки веса матери во время беременности обусловлены воспалительными процессами в плацентарной ткани и фетоплацентарными нарушениями. И хотя патогенетические механизмы этих нарушений окончательно не определены, новые исследования указывают на роль плацентарной микробиоты [25]. Во время беременности патологическая прибавка веса дополнительно изменяет или усиливает изменения кишечной микробиоты.…”

Maternal microbiomes in preterm birth: Recent progress and analytical pipelines

“…Although the placenta was long thought to be germ-free, multiple histological and high-throughput sequencing studies have suggested that the placenta harbors its own microbiome 31 (Figure 1). For example, our group used a variety of staining methods to demonstrate the presence of intracellular microbes in the basal plate (the maternal-fetal interface) of term and preterm placentas 32 .…”