Gut microbiota in pregnant Malaysian women: a comparison between trimesters, body mass index and gestational diabetes status

Abstract

Background The primary purpose of the study is to determine the variation of gut microbiota composition between first (T1) and third trimester (T3); gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and non-gestational diabetes mellitus (NGDM); and also within a different category of Body Mass Index (BMI) of selected pregnant Malaysian women. Methods A prospective observational study on selected 38 pregnant Malaysian women attending a tertiary medical centre was carried out. Those with preexisting diabetes, metabolic syndrome or any other endocrine disorders were excluded. GDM was determined using oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) while BMI was stratified as underweight, normal, pre-obese and obese. Fecal samples were then collected during the first trimester (T1) and the third trimester (T3). The V3-V4 region of 16S rRNA gene amplicon libraries were sequenced and analyzed using QIIME (version 1.9.1) and METAGENassist. Results Twelve women (31.6%) were diagnosed as GDM. A trend of lower α-diversity indices in GDM, pre-obese and obese pregnant women were observed. Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA) shows a clustering of gut microbiota according to GDM status and BMI, but not by trimester. Genera Acidaminococcus, Clostridium, Megasphaera and Allisonella were higher, and Barnesiella and Blautia were lower in GDM group (P < 0.005). Obese patients had gut microbiota that was enriched with bacteria of Negativicutes and Proteobacteria class such as Megamonas, Succinatimonas and Dialister (P < 0.005). The normal and mild underweight profiles on the other hand had a higher bacteria from the class of Clostridia (Papillibacter, Oscillibacter, Oscillospira, Blautia, Dorea) and Bacteroidia (Alistipes, Prevotella, Paraprevotella) (P < 0.005). Conclusion The prevalence and variation of several key bacteria from classes of Negativicutes, Clostridia and Proteobacteria has potential metabolic links with GDM and body weight during pregnancy which require further functional validation.

Mechanismbased role of the intestinal microbiota in gestational diabetes mellitus: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Of these, 106 articles were duplicates and were removed, 354 articles were excluded because they reported on different study purposes, and 20 were excluded because they described other study designs. After excluding publications that did not meet the inclusion criteria, 22 (8,(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27) studies remained and were subjected to full-text scanning for this systematic review. The flow chart illustrating the selection process is provided in Figure 1.…”

The interplay between the gut microbiota and metabolism during the third trimester of pregnancy

“…Increased Megamonas abundance has been demonstrated to be associated with major depressive disorder ( Wang et al, 2021 ). The relative abundance of Megamonas showed a positive correlation with BMI during pregnancy ( Zhan et al, 2021 ; Abdullah et al, 2022 ). There was a downward trend of Megamonas in intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) patients ( Zhan et al, 2021 ), while the trend in GDM patients was exactly the opposite ( Abdullah et al, 2022 ).…”

“…The relative abundance of Megamonas showed a positive correlation with BMI during pregnancy ( Zhan et al, 2021 ; Abdullah et al, 2022 ). There was a downward trend of Megamonas in intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) patients ( Zhan et al, 2021 ), while the trend in GDM patients was exactly the opposite ( Abdullah et al, 2022 ). The change in Megamonas might be associated with metabolite alterations that occur during late pregnancy.…”

Clinical Biochemical Indicators and Intestinal Microbiota Testing Reveal the Influence of Reproductive Age Extending from the Mother to the Offspring

“…However, the bacteria associated with these indicators are different from those associated with age. Body mass index might also be an important factor in maternal gut microbes; compared with women at a normal weight, obese patients had gut microbiota that were enriched with bacteria of the Negativicutes class and the Proteobacteria phylum, such as Megamonas , Succinatimonas and Dialister ( 42 ). The different effects of bacteria associated with each of these factors on the host deserve further study in the future.…”