ChinaFocus:Researchersunveilvariationsofpregnancymicrobiome,linkstoreproductivedisorders_GuangmingOnlineChinaFocus:Researchersunveilvariationsofpregnancymicrobiome,linkstoreproductivedisordersBEIJING,April10(Xinhua)--Researchersrecentlyunveiledtheevolvingpatternsofpregnancymicrobiome,aimingtoanalyzetheimpactofthemicrobialecosystemonthehealthofbothmothersandtheiroffspring.Thestudy,jointlyconductedbyateamconsistingofresearchersfromtheBeijingInstitutesofLifeScienceundertheChineseAcademyofSciencesandtheShanghaiChangzhengHospital,hasbeenpublishedinthejournalScienceBulletin.Duringpregnancy,thefemalemicrobiomeundergoessignificantchanges,whichmayleadtoreproductivedisorders.Nevertheless,thereisalackoflarge-scaleintegratedinvestigationsthatcharacterizemicrobiomedynamicsacrosskeybodyhabitats.Inthisregard,researchersperformedanextensivemeta-analysisthatcompilesandanalyzesmicrobiomeprofilesfromover10,000samplesacrossthegut,vagina,andoralcavityofpregnantwomenfromdiversegeographicalregions.Theyunveiledunexpectedvariationsinthetaxonomic,functional,andecologicalcharacteristicsofmicrobialcommunitiesthroughoutthecourseofpregnancy,andestablishedacomprehensiveatlasofthepregnancymicrobiomebyintegratingmultidimensionaldatasets.Researchersfoundthataspregnancyadvances,thediversityandcompositionofthegutmicrobiotaundergosignificantchanges,adaptingtofluctuationsinhormonelevelsduringpregnancy,whichmayaffectmaternalmetabolismandimmunesystem.ThestudyalsodiscoveredacorrelationbetweenanincreasedabundanceofbacteriafromthegenusBacteroidesandahigheroccurrenceofgestationaldiabetes,suggestingthatthebacteriacouldserveasacrucialbiomarkerformonitoringmaternalhealth.Duringpregnancy,thediversityofvaginamicrobiotadecreases,whiletheabundanceofLactobacillussignificantlyincreases.PotentialdisruptionofthemicrobialecosystemdominatedbyLactobacillusmayaffectpregnancyoutcomes.Thestudyalsorevealedthatthevaginamicrobiotanetworkofwomenwhodeliverpretermexhibitsgreaterdisturbancescomparedtohealthypregnantwomen.ThereisasignificantdecreaseinLactobacillusabundanceinthepretermgroup.Thisphenomenonisobservableinearlypregnancyandpredictablebymachinelearningmodels.Bycomparingtheoralmicrobiotaofhealthypregnantwomenfromdifferentregions,researchersfoundthattheoralmicrobialvariationsarerelativelystableduringpregnancy.Significantdifferences,however,wereobservedinthemicrobialcompositionanddiversityofpregnantwomenwithgestationaldiabetes,withanobviousdecreaseinStreptococcusandanincreaseinCorynebacterium.Thesechangescouldserveasabasisfortheearlydiagnosisofgestationaldiabetes.Additionally,itsuggeststhatoralmicrobiotamightbeusedasarelativelystableandeasilydetectableindicatorformonitoringmaternalhealthduringpregnancy.Theintricateecosystemofpregnancymicrobiomeholdsprofoundimplicationsforthehealthofbothmothersandfetuses.In-depthresearchinthisfieldispoisedtooffernovelinsightsintofutureclinicalpracticesandmedicaltechnologies.Editor:DisclaimerTheviewsandopinionsexpressedinthisarticlearethoseoftheauthor's,GMW.cnmakesnorepresentationsastoaccuracy,suitability,orvalidityofanyinformationonthissiteandwillnotbeliableforanyerrors,omissions,ordelaysinthisinformation.