Pregnancy and Microbiome
The CNP Pregnancy and Microbiome Research Category consolidates research exploring the relationship between pregnancy and the microbiome. To view each original study on the open internet, click “Original.” To view the CNP-written abstract summary, click “CNP Summary.” While only some of the CNP-written abstract summaries are available below for free, all abstract summaries are available to CNP members through the CNP Library Membership.
FEATURED CNP RESEARCH SUMMARY
This 2019 study states that a child’s emotional and behavioral development may be affected if his/her mother had suffered psychosocial stress before giving birth. Hechler et al. explore the role of the mother’s intestinal microbiota in this implication, which may in turn influence the microbiota in the intestines of the child. To investigate the relationship between psychosocial stress and fecal microbiotas in pregnant women, 70 female participants provided late pregnancy stool samples and completed questionnaires regarding anxiety as well as general and pregnancy-specific stress. The only association identified was between maternal general anxiety and microbial composition. In conclusion, this is the first study to find a mechanism by which psychological symptoms in pregnancy may affect the offspring.
2018
Emerging literature in the Microbiota-Brain Axis and Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders
During pregnancy, several morbidity and mortality factors may pose significant risk, including Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders (PMAD). The perinatal period places significant stress on physiological systems, making them liable to derangements and to the onset of depression and anxiety. The interplay between the gut microbiome, immunity, and stress may present a framework to further the understanding behind PMAD mechanisms. Rackers et al. (2018) reviewed the growing body of literature related to the gut microbiome in PMAD, taking into account general population research results on immunity, hormonal regulation, and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) derangements from a microbiome perspective, in addition to studies pertaining immunity, gonadotropins, and stress responses in the perinatal period (defined to include pregnancy up to one year postpartum). The results of the review highlighted several links between stress states and maternal microbiome derangements, the impact of diet on the composition of the microbiota, on mood and on stress, and the impact the microbiome induces on the immune system via immunoregulatory mechanisms. The authors outline several thematic research points, including: the crucial role of the maternal microbiome, stress indicators and measurements, anxiety, and depression. They believe that a multidisciplinary approach is paramount to fully understand the relationships governing the multitude of mechanisms occurring in tandem. [NPID: Anxiety, depression, immunity, microbiome, pregnancy, stress]
CNP Research Summary can be found in the CNP Library Membership
2019
Association between psychosocial stress and fecal microbiota in pregnant women
The psychosocial stress expecting mothers are subjected to during the prenatal period has been shown to impact the child’s emotional and behavioral development. The impact of psychosocial stress on the mother’s, and subsequently, the child’s intestinal microbiome is a postulated mechanism behind this developmental derangement. In this study by Hechler et al. (2019), the authors endeavored to understand the links between psychosocial stress and the observed changes in maternal fecal microbiome, through examining late pregnancy stool samples from 70 mothers, and through analyzing stress and anxiety data obtained using general and pregnancy-focused participant questionnaires. While the initial analysis of results revealed significant links between maternal general stress and fecal microbiota composition, no other links were discovered between psychological stress variables and the specific composition of the fecal microbiome. The authors comment that their study provides novel evidence on the impact of general anxiety during pregnancy on the microbiome composition, presenting a potential explanation for how psychological stress during pregnancy impacts the offspring. [NPID: Prenatal psychosocial stress, intestinal microbiota, pregnant women]
2019
Improving mental health for the mother-infant dyad by nutrition and the maternal gut microbiome
Improving mental health for the mother-infant dyad by nutrition and the maternal gut microbiome
CNP Research Summary can be found in the CNP Library Membership
2019
The relationship between perinatal mental health and stress: a review of the microbiome
This 2019 review focuses on the interaction between stress-induced adaptations (such as the immune system, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, the autonomic nervous system) and the microbiota since this relationship may contribute to mental illnesses/disorders/behaviors/experiences in women during pregnancy and postpartum. Redpath et al. explain that when the stress response activates the HPA axis and dysregulates the ANS, the parasympathetic system is eventually inhibited. This article also mentions perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (during pregnancy or in the first year following childbirth) since its underlying mechanisms and etiologies have not yet been confirmed. It was recently found that the sustained elevated levels of cortisol, reduced heart variability, and altered immune responses (factors associated with stress) increase vulnerability to perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. The bidirectional communication that takes place between the nervous system and the microbiota is now also believed to play an important role in the development of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. Finally, there is a lot of promise in the study of the relationship between the psychoneuroimmune system, the gut microbiota, and perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. [NPID: anxiety, depression, heart rate variability, microbiota; pregnancy; psychosocial, stress, HPA, cortisol, gut-brain axis]
2020
Evidence for maternal diet-mediated effects on the offspring microbiome and immunity: implications for public health initiatives
This 2021 article highlights the concerning effects of diet today, especially in the offspring. Mirpuri explains that the consumption of a high-fat diet by the mother during pregnancy can influence the microbiome of her future child or children. Diet is also believed to have significantly contributed to the high prevalence of obesity/overweight among women of childbearing age in the U.S. (said to be 50%). The consequential changes in neonatal microbiome associated with maternal fat-rich diets are related to multiple morbidities such as necrotizing enterocolitis (a serious gastrointestinal problem), atopy (tendency to develop allergic diseases), asthma, metabolic dysfunction, and hypertension (high blood pressure). This review outlines the possible mechanisms by which maternal diets affect offspring immunity and microbiome, focusing on the more recent studies. The author suggests possible avenues of research to approach and even potential mechanisms and summarizes our current knowledge of ideal nutrition during pregnancy and discusses how public health initiatives can promote the well-being of the future generation. [NPID: pregnancy, microbiome, gut-brain axis, gut microbiota, high-fat diet, high fat, obesity, overweight, enterocolitis, atopy, asthma, metabolic dysfunction, hypertension, high blood pressure, public health]