The Relevance Of Maternal Nutrition And Microbiome In Fetal Health Programming Miss Pooja G. Malave (M.Sc. in Biotechnology) Rajiv Gandhi Institute of IT & Biotechnology, Bharti Vidyapeeth Deemed to be University, Pune.
Abstract: The concept of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease Hypothesis indicates that maternal nutrition during pregnancy is one of the factor, which influences the offspring disease risk later in life. The human microbiome plays a potential role in the spectrum of health and diseases and established during fetal development. Maternal diet during pregnancy can affect the maternal microbiota, which in turn may imprint a long lasting metabolic signature on the neonatal microbiota. Less data is currently available concerning the impact of the maternal diet during gestation on the maternal microbiota. The need of the hour is to study how maternal nutrition can affect the neonatal microbiome and hence therein the programming of health and disease. This may further provide a key to predict the non-communicable diseases later in life. Background Adverse influences/alterations during the fetal life in utero increase the risk of developing diseases in adult life1. Environmental conditions during fetal and early post-natal development influence lifelong health and capacity 2, termed as DOHaD ‘Developmental origins of health and disease’ 3. Environmental factors (nutrition, smoking, stress) modify epigenetic processes; include DNA methylation, histone acetylation etc4. An exhaustive knowledge of the epigenetic mechanisms would help us know the exact reasons behind, fetal programming and its correlation with non-communicable diseases.
Fig 2. Factors affecting maternal microbiota and transfer of maternal dysbiosis to the neonate. Modified from Calatayud M et al.. 2019.
Fig 1. Modulation environmental cues lead to the developmental programming of disease. Modified from Burton GJ et al. 2016.
Introduction The collective genome of microbial community, The Human Microbiome, plays a potential roles in the in spectrum of health and diseases5. The gut first comes across the dietary nutrients. Gut microbiota are key to form the immune and metabolic functions, play roles in relation to gut physiology, homeostatic balance, maturation of immune and cognitive development. Early-life nutritional insults may cause, dysbiosis (Microbial imbalance), which may increase the risk of developing diseases (NCDs) in later life6,7. The composition of infant microbiome is determined by perinatal, post-natal exposures (mode of delivery, feeding practices and antibiotic use). The establishment of genome-wide epigenetic profiles occurs during early embryogenesis, therefore microbial contact before birth may be a possible mechanism of NCD programming7. Methodology Review of literature was done by searching recent research articles from pubmed Review of literature Maternal adversities such as malnutrition, stress, immune activation can have a negative impact on the offspring’s health8. Maternal microbiota influences the prenatal and post-natal development of the offspring. The composition and activity of the maternal microbiome directly or indirectly also affect the infant microbiome10.
The maternal gut microbiota, during pregnancy provides metabolites essential for fetal growth. Further, their vertical transmission elicits the immunostimulatory, metabolic, and transcriptional programs9. Studies have shown that maternal obesity, maternal overweight and unhealthy diet is associated with altered maternal microbiome, which in turn affects the infant microbiota11, reviewed by Lindsay et al. Epidemiological data from animal models show that high fat diet and maternal obesity, affect the neonatal microbiota and immune system, which in turn may predispose the child to obesity and other metabolic diseases12.
Conclusion The human microbiome plays a potential role in the spectrum of health and diseases and is established during fetal development. Maternal diet during pregnancy can affect the maternal microbiota, which in turn may imprint a long lasting metabolic signature on the neonatal microbiota. A focus on future studies should be given to find clues as to how maternal nutrition can affect the neonatal microbiome and hence therein the programming of health and disease. This may further provide a key to predict the noncommunicable diseases in later life. Bibliography 1. Gluckman PD et al. . Effect of in utero and early-life conditions on adult health and disease. N Engl J Med 2008. 2. Cetin I et al. Maternal predictors of intrauterine growth restriction. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care 2013. 3. Tarrade A et al. Placental contribution to nutritional programming of health and diseases: Epigenetics and sexual dimorphism. J Exp Biol 2015. 4. Simmons R. Epigenetics and maternal nutrition: Nature v. nurture. Proc Nutr Soc 2011. 5. Prince ALet al. The Perinatal Microbiome and Pregnancy : Moving Beyond the Vaginal Microbiome. 2015. 6. Chu DM et al. Impact of maternal nutrition in pregnancy and lactation on offspring gut microbial composition and function. Gut Microbes 2016. 7. Calatayud M et al. Maternal Microbiome and Metabolic Health Program Microbiome Development and Health of the Offspring. 2019. 8. Bale TL. Epigenetic and transgenerational reprogramming of brain development. Nat Rev Neurosci 2015. 9. Ja Eet al. . Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology Prenatal and postnatal contributions of the maternal microbiome on off spring programming. 2019. 10. Soderborg TK et al. Microbial transmission from mothers with obesity or diabetes to infants: an innovative opportunity to interrupt a vicious cycle. Diabetologia 2016. 11. Lindsay KLet al. . Psychoneuroendocrinology Intergenerational transmission of the e ff ects of maternal exposure to childhood maltreatment on off spring obesity risk : A fetal programming perspective. 2020. 12. Friedman JE. Developmental Programming of Obesity and Diabetes in Mouse, Monkey, and Man in 2018: Where Are We Headed? Diabetes 2018.