Association between gut microbiota composition and glycoalbumin level during pregnancy in Japanese women: Pilot study from Chiba Study of Mother and Child Health

Aims/Introduction Gut microbiota have various effects on human health. Some previous reports have shown that gut microbiota change during pregnancy and affect metabolism, but others have shown that microbiota do not change. Here, we examined the gut microbiota and glycoalbumin levels of 45 healthy Japanese women during pregnancy. Materials and Methods We carried out 16S rRNA gene sequencing analyses of maternal stool samples and compared the gut microbiota composition of samples from women in early and late pregnancy. We also examined the association between gut microbiota and maternal characteristics, including glycoalbumin. Results Microbiota composition in early and late pregnancy did not differ, according to principal coordinate analysis of weighted and unweighted UniFrac distances. Shannon indices were not different between early and late pregnancy. The proportion of one phylum, TM7, significantly decreased in late pregnancy compared with early pregnancy, but the proportions of other major phyla did not change. The Shannon index of late pregnancy was negatively associated with pregestational body mass index and positively correlated with glycoalbumin level, with adjustment of covariates. Conclusions We concluded that Japanese women did not show obvious differences in gut microbiota during pregnancy, except for TM7, and that the diversity of gut microbiota might affect maternal metabolism. As this study had limited statistical power, further large‐scale studies are required.
This study attempted to confirm whether gut microbiota change during pregnancy, by comparing the gut microbiota in stool samples from 45 women, both early and late in their pregnancies. The composition of microbiota in early and late pregnancy did not differ, except that the proportion of the phylum, TM7, significantly decreased in late pregnancy. The Shannon index of late pregnancy was negatively associated with pregestational body mass index and positively correlated with glycoalbumin levels.