Nutrient availability, the microbiome, and intestinal transport during pregnancy

Adequate adaptation of the gastrointestinal tract is important during pregnancy to ensure that the increased metabolic demands by the developing fetus are met. These include changes in surface area mediated by villus hypertrophy and enhanced functional capacity of individual nutrient receptors, including those transporting glucose, fructose, leucine, and calcium. These processes are regulated either by the enhanced nutrient demand or are facilitated by changes in the secretion of pregnancy hormones. Our review also covers recent research into the microbiome, and how pregnancy could lead to microbial adaptations, which are beneficial to the mother, yet are also similar to those seen in the metabolic syndrome. The potential role of diet in modulating the microbiome during pregnancy, as well as the potential for the intestinal microbiota to induce pregnancy complications, are examined. Gaps in the current literature are highlighted, including those where only historical evidence is available, and we suggest areas that should be a priority for further research. In summary, although a significant degree of adaptation has been described, there are both well-established processes and more recent discoveries, such as changes within the maternal microbiome, that pose new questions as to how the gastrointestinal tract effectively adapts to pregnancy, especially in conjunction with maternal obesity.

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New evidence on the potential role of the metabolic syndrome as a risk factor for venous thromboembolism

Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis ◽

10.1111/j.1538-7836.2009.03327.x ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 7 (5) ◽

pp. 736-738 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

W. AGENO ◽

F. DENTALI ◽

A. M. GRANDI

Keyword(s):

Metabolic Syndrome ◽

Risk Factor ◽

Venous Thromboembolism ◽

Potential Role ◽

The Metabolic Syndrome ◽

New Evidence

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Effects of Maternal Obesity On Placental Phenotype

Current Vascular Pharmacology ◽

10.2174/1570161118666200513115316 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 19 (2) ◽

pp. 113-131 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

A.L. Fowden ◽

E.J. Camm ◽

A.N. Sferruzzi-Perri

Keyword(s):

Potential Role ◽

Maternal Obesity ◽

Endocrine Function ◽

Obstetric Outcomes ◽

Contributory Factor ◽

Intrauterine Development ◽

Maternal Undernutrition ◽

Clinical Complications ◽

Adverse Impacts

: The incidence of obesity is rising rapidly worldwide with the consequence that more women are entering pregnancy overweight or obese. This leads to an increased incidence of clinical complications during pregnancy and of poor obstetric outcomes. The offspring of obese pregnancies are often macrosomic at birth although there is also a subset of the progeny that are growth-restricted at term. Maternal obesity during pregnancy is also associated with cardiovascular, metabolic and endocrine dysfunction in the offspring later in life. As the interface between the mother and fetus, the placenta has a central role in programming intrauterine development and is known to adapt its phenotype in response to environmental conditions such as maternal undernutrition and hypoxia. However, less is known about placental function in the abnormal metabolic and endocrine environment associated with maternal obesity during pregnancy. This review discusses the placental consequences of maternal obesity induced either naturally or experimentally by increasing maternal nutritional intake and/or changing the dietary composition. It takes a comparative, multi-species approach and focusses on placental size, morphology, nutrient transport, metabolism and endocrine function during the later stages of obese pregnancy. It also examines the interventions that have been made during pregnancy in an attempt to alleviate the more adverse impacts of maternal obesity on placental phenotype. The review highlights the potential role of adaptations in placental phenotype as a contributory factor to the pregnancy complications and changes in fetal growth and development that are associated with maternal obesity.

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The potential role of the intestinal gut microbiota in obesity and the metabolic syndrome

Food Science & Technology Bulletin Functional Foods ◽

10.1616/1476-2137.15557 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 5 (7) ◽

pp. 71-92 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Francesca Fava ◽

Julie A. Lovegrove ◽

Kieran M. Tuohy ◽

Glenn R. Gibson

Keyword(s):

Metabolic Syndrome ◽

Gut Microbiota ◽

Potential Role ◽

The Metabolic Syndrome

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The potential role of green tea catechins in the prevention of the metabolic syndrome – A review

Phytochemistry ◽

10.1016/j.phytochem.2008.11.011 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 70 (1) ◽

pp. 11-24 ◽

Cited By ~ 241

Author(s):

Frank Thielecke ◽

Michael Boschmann

Keyword(s):

Metabolic Syndrome ◽

Green Tea ◽

Potential Role ◽

Tea Catechins ◽

Green Tea Catechins ◽

The Metabolic Syndrome

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Maternal obesity and stillbirth at term; placental pathology—A case control study

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0250983 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (4) ◽

pp. e0250983

Author(s):

Hanna Åmark ◽

Magnus Westgren ◽

Meeli Sirotkina ◽

Ingela Hulthén Varli ◽

Martina Persson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Logistic Regression ◽

Potential Role ◽

Maternal Obesity ◽

Case Control Study ◽

Case Control ◽

Normal Weight ◽

Obese Women ◽

Control Study ◽

Velamentous Cord Insertion

Objective The aim was to explore the potential role of the placenta for the risk of stillbirth at term in pregnancies of obese women. Methods This was a case-control study comparing placental findings from term stillbirths with placental findings from live born infants. Cases were singleton term stillbirths to normal weight or obese women, identified in the Stockholm stillbirth database, n = 264 and n = 87, respectively. Controls were term singletons born alive to normal weight or obese women, delivered between 2002–2005 and between 2018–2019. Placentas were compared between women with stillborn and live-born infants, using logistic regression analyses. Results A long and hyper coiled cord, cord thrombosis and velamentous cord insertion were stronger risk factors for stillbirth in obese women compared to normal weight women. When these variables were adjusted for in the logistic regression analysis, also adjusted for potential confounders, the odds ratio for stillbirth in obese women decreased from 1.89 (CI 1.24–2.89) to 1.63 (CI 1.04–2.56). Conclusion Approximately one fourth of the effect of obesity on the risk of stillbirth in term pregnancies is explained by umbilical cord associated pathology.

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Developmental Origins of Obesity and the Metabolic Syndrome: The Role of Maternal Obesity

Obesity and Metabolism - Frontiers of Hormone Research ◽

10.1159/000115355 ◽

2008 ◽

pp. 73-84 ◽

Cited By ~ 142

Author(s):

James Andrew Armitage ◽

Lucilla Poston ◽

Paul David Taylor

Keyword(s):

Metabolic Syndrome ◽

Maternal Obesity ◽

Developmental Origins ◽

The Metabolic Syndrome

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First Insights into the Diverse Human Archaeome: Specific Detection of Archaea in the Gastrointestinal Tract, Lung, and Nose and on Skin

mBio ◽

10.1128/mbio.00824-17 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 8 (6) ◽

Cited By ~ 74

Author(s):

Kaisa Koskinen ◽

Manuela R. Pausan ◽

Alexandra K. Perras ◽

Michael Beck ◽

Corinna Bang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gastrointestinal Tract ◽

Human Health ◽

Potential Role ◽

Tissue Samples ◽

Biogeographic Patterns ◽

Processing Pipeline ◽

Health And Disease ◽

First Time

ABSTRACT Human-associated archaea remain understudied in the field of microbiome research, although in particular methanogenic archaea were found to be regular commensals of the human gut, where they represent keystone species in metabolic processes. Knowledge on the abundance and diversity of human-associated archaea is extremely limited, and little is known about their function(s), their overall role in human health, or their association with parts of the human body other than the gastrointestinal tract and oral cavity. Currently, methodological issues impede the full assessment of the human archaeome, as bacteria-targeting protocols are unsuitable for characterization of the full spectrum of Archaea. The goal of this study was to establish conservative protocols based on specifically archaea-targeting, PCR-based methods to retrieve first insights into the archaeomes of the human gastrointestinal tract, lung, nose, and skin. Detection of Archaea was highly dependent on primer selection and the sequence processing pipeline used. Our results enabled us to retrieve a novel picture of the human archaeome, as we found for the first time Methanobacterium and Woesearchaeota (DPANN superphylum) to be associated with the human gastrointestinal tract and the human lung, respectively. Similar to bacteria, human-associated archaeal communities were found to group biogeographically, forming (i) the thaumarchaeal skin landscape, (ii) the (methano)euryarchaeal gastrointestinal tract, (iii) a mixed skin-gastrointestinal tract landscape for the nose, and (iv) a woesearchaeal lung landscape. On the basis of the protocols we used, we were able to detect unexpectedly high diversity of archaea associated with different body parts. IMPORTANCE In summary, our study highlights the importance of the primers and data processing pipeline used to study the human archaeome. We were able to establish protocols that revealed the presence of previously undetected Archaea in all of the tissue samples investigated and to detect biogeographic patterns of the human archaeome in the gastrointestinal tract and on the skin and for the first time in the respiratory tract, i.e., the nose and lungs. Our results are a solid basis for further investigation of the human archaeome and, in the long term, discovery of the potential role of archaea in human health and disease. IMPORTANCE In summary, our study highlights the importance of the primers and NGS data processing pipeline used to study the human archaeome. We were able to establish protocols that revealed the presence of previously undetected Archaea in all of the tissue samples investigated and to detect biogeographic patterns of the human archaeome in the gastrointestinal tract, on the skin, and for the first time in the respiratory tract, i.e., the nose and lungs. Our results are a solid basis for further investigation of the human archaeome and, in the long term, discovery of the potential role of archaea in human health and disease.

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