Dataset Information

Maternal precarity and HPA axis functioning shape infant gut microbiota and HPA axis development in humans.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Early life exposure to adverse environments, and maternal stress in particular, has been shown to increase risk for metabolic diseases and neurobehavioral disorders. While many studies have examined the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA axis) as the primary mechanism behind these relationships, emerging research on the brain-gut axis suggests that the microbiome may play a role. In this study, we tested the relationships among maternal precarity and HPA axis dysregulation during the peripartum period, infant gut microbiome composition, and infant HPA axis functioning.

Methods

Data come from 25 mother-infant dyads in the Galápagos, Ecuador. Women completed surveys on precarity measures (food insecurity, low social support, depression, and stress) and gave salivary cortisol samples during and after pregnancy. Infant salivary cortisol and stool were collected in the postpartum. Statistical significance of differences in microbial diversity and relative abundance were assessed with respect to adjusted linear regression models.

Results

Maternal precarity was associated with lower diversity and higher relative abundance of Enterobacteriaceae and Streptococcaceae and a lower relative abundance of Bifidobacterium and Lachnospiraceae. These patterns of colonization for Enterobacteriaceae and Bifidobacterium mirrored those found in infants with HPA axis dysregulation. Maternal HPA axis dysregulation during pregnancy was also associated with a greater relative abundance of Veillonella.

Conclusions

Overall, exposures to precarity and HPA axis dysregulation were associated with an increase in groups that include potentially pathogenic bacteria, including Enterobacteriaceae, Streptococcaceae, and Veillonella, and a decrease in potentially protective bacteria, including Bifidobacterium and Lachnospiraceae, as well as a decrease in overall diversity.

SUBMITTER: Jahnke JR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8136730 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:The gut microbiota plays a crucial role in food allergies. We sought to identify characteristics of the maternal gut microbiota in the third trimester and the infant gut microbiota in early life and the association of these microbiotas with infant food allergy. A total of 68 healthy pregnant women and their full-term newborns were selected from a cohort of 202 mother-infant pairs; among them, 24 infants had been diagnosed with food allergy within 1 year of age, whereas 44 infants were healthy without allergic symptoms. We collected 65 maternal fecal samples before delivery and 253 infant fecal samples at five time points following birth. Fecal samples were microbiologically analyzed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Holdemania abundance in the maternal gut microbiota in the third trimester was significantly higher in the non-allergy group than in the food allergy group (P = 0.036). In the infant gut microbiota, Holdemania was only found in meconium samples; its abundance did not differ significantly between the two groups. The change in the abundance of Actinobacteria over time differed between the non-allergy and food allergy groups (FA, P = 0.013; NA, P = 9.8 × 10-5), and the change in the abundance of Firmicutes over time differed significantly in the non-allergy group (P = 0.023). The abundances of genera Anaerotruncus, Roseburia, Ruminococcus, and Erysipelotricaceae were significantly different between the non-allergy and food allergy groups at different time points. Our results showed that maternal carriage of Holdemania during the third trimester strongly predicted the absence of food allergies in infants; there was no correlation between the presence of food allergies and the abundance of Holdemania in the infant gut microbiota. More dynamic fluctuations in phyla Actinobacteria and Firmicutes early in life protect against food allergy. Thus, the enrichment of the infant gut microbiota early in life with short-chain fatty acid-producing bacteria may be beneficial in preventing the development of food allergies in infants.