Gestation Alters Maternal Gut Microbiota

Gestation Alters Maternal Gut Microbiota

Millions of bacteria are living inside and on our body weighing around four pounds of our body weight. These bacteria are very useful and important in health and in fighting disease. These microbiomes are altered during gestation. It was seen that during pregnancy microbiomes are responsible for partial weight gain and some essential inflammatory responses. But the mechanism responsible for such changes is still unknown.

Several studies have been done to see the changes in bacteria with progression in pregnancy. Recently in one of the studies, it was found that during pregnancy progesterone regulates the microbial composition of bacteria in such a way that may help the baby develop.

It was found that as the pregnancy progressed there was a dramatic change in the composition of bacteria mostly during late pregnancy along with the increase in the relative abundance of Bifidobacterium. These bacteria metabolize the healthy sugar in the breast milk which is very important for the growth of the baby and hence are crucial for infants. These bacteria also have probiotic capabilities and as a result, its lack during pregnancy can lead to preterm delivery.

Researchers discovered that there was an increase in the level of progesterone accompanied by an increased inflammatory response in pregnant women. The increase in the level of other bacteria was also recorded but Bifidobacterium was the only identical bacteria to pregnancy in mice. Researchers imitated pregnancy in mice (using progesterone) and found that in mice also there is an increase in the level of same bacteria. Hence it was concluded that Bifidobacterium somehow senses progesterone and reacts to it. Researchers also administered progesterone in vitro and found that the level of the bacterium increased rapidly. This led to the conclusion that Bifidobacterium senses and responds to progesterone.

These results conclude that progesterone promotes growth of Bifidobacterium during late pregnancy. These findings helped to understand the relationship between hormones and intestinal bacteria during pregnancy.it also helps to understand other conditions such as conditions in which hormones are involved, such as progesterone supplementation as a component of fertility treatments or therapy in menopausal women.

Further researches are now focussed on how these bacteria react, what are the genes that are turned on, what other things pregnancy hormones does and what all effects they have.