The Association between Gestational Diabetes and the Microbiome: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Gestational diabetes, affecting about 10% of pregnancies, is characterized by impaired glucose regulation and can lead to complications for health of pregnant women and their offspring. The microbiota, the resident microbes within the body, have been linked to the development of several metabolic conditions. This systematic review with meta-analysis aims to summarize the evidence on the differences in microbiota composition in pregnant women with gestational diabetes and their offspring compared to healthy pregnancies. A thorough search was conducted in the PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases, and data from 21 studies were analyzed utilizing 41 meta-analyses. In the gut microbiota, Bifidobacterium and Alistipes were found to be more abundant in healthy pregnancies, while Roseburia appears to be more abundant in gestational diabetes. The heterogeneity among study findings regarding the microbiota in the meconium is considerable. The placental microbiota exhibited almost no heterogeneity, with an increased abundance of Firmicutes in the gestational diabetes group and a higher abundance of Proteobacteria in the control. The role of the microbiota in gestational diabetes is reinforced by these findings, which additionally point to the potential of microbiome-targeted therapies. To completely comprehend the interactions between gestational diabetes and the microbiome, standardizing methodologies and further research is necessary.

Pregnancy Protects against Abnormal Gut Permeability Promoted via the Consumption of a High-Fat Diet in Mice

“…Next, using the FITC-dextran method, it was shown that, as expected, in non-pregnant mice on a HFD, there was a 2-fold increase in gut permeability, whereas in pregnant mice fed chow, there was a 1.5-fold increase in gut permeability, and these findings mostly reproduce those of previous studies [12,16,[20][21][22]. Conversely, pregnancy completely abolished the harmful effect of the HFD on gut barrier integrity, and, to our knowledge, this has never been described before.…”

“…Prior studies have described in detail the effects of a HFD on gut barrier integrity and also on the gut microbiome landscape [16,20,21]. In addition, there are some studies that have evaluated the same parameters in pregnancy [12,22]. However, little was known about the impact of pregnancy on gut permeability and microbiota in diet-induced obesity [2,13,19].…”

Potential Impact of a Pregnant Woman’s Microbiota on the Development of Fetal Heart Defects: A Review of the Literature

“…Both type 1 and type 2 diabetes in mothers are associated with an increased risk of CHD in the offspring [ 37 ]. Changes in the composition of the gut microbiota, such as an increase in Firmicutes and a decrease in Bacteroidetes and Actinobacteria, have been observed in pregnancies with GDM [ 38 ], and the recent literature only highlights how much potential there is for microbiome-targeted therapies in gestational diabetes [ 39 ].…”