Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 9, 2025
Author Spotlight: Collecting the Brain and Serum from the Same Mice Fetus to Study Brain Tumor Development
Published on: May 17, 2024
Maternal pre-pregnancy overweight and neonatal gut bacterial colonization are associated with cognitive development
Maria Angela Guzzardi1, Thomas H A Ederveen2, Francesca Rizzo3
1Institute of Clinical Physiology (IFC), National Research Council (CNR), Pisa, Italy.
Insights
Maternal obesity impacts infant gut bacteria, potentially affecting cognitive development. Early gut microbiome analysis may offer insights for preventing neurodevelopmental disorders.
Area of Science:
- Microbiome research
- Neurodevelopmental science
- Maternal health
Background:
- Maternal gestational obesity is linked to offspring neurodevelopmental and neuro-cognitive disorders.
- Gut microbiota alterations are observed in neurocognitive disorders and associated with maternal metabolic health.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between gut microbiota composition and cognitive development in infancy.
- To explore the relationship between maternal obesity and offspring's gut microbiome and cognitive outcomes.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of fecal microbiota composition using 16S rRNA sequencing in infants from the Pisa Birth Cohort (PISAC).
- Samples collected from meconium and at multiple time points up to 36 months.
- Cognitive development assessed using Griffith's Mental Development Scales from 6 to 60 months.
Main Results:
- Early life gut microbiota is dominated by Bifidobacteria and Proteobacteria, shifting towards Firmicutes by 36 months.
- Maternal overweight was associated with reduced abundance of Bifidobacterium, Blautia, and Ruminococcus, and lower practical reasoning scores at 36 months.
- Neonatal gut microbiota diversity and composition, particularly Bifidobacterium and Veillonella, correlated with practical reasoning scores at 60 months.
Conclusions:
- Maternal overweight influences early bacterial colonization and reasoning skill development in offspring.
- The gut microbiome's early composition is linked to later cognitive function, suggesting potential for antenatal interventions.
- Neonatal gut microbiome analysis offers novel perspectives for primary prevention of neurodevelopmental disorders.
Abstract:
Maternal gestational obesity is a risk factor for offspring's neurodevelopment and later neuro-cognitive disorders. Altered gut microbiota composition has been found in patients with neurocognitive disorders, and in relation to maternal metabolic health. We explored the associations between gut microbiota and cognitive development during infancy, and their link with maternal obesity. In groups of children from the Pisa birth Cohort (PISAC), we analysed faecal microbiota composition by 16S rRNA marker gene sequencing of first-pass meconium samples and of faecal samples collected at age 3, 6, 12, 24, 36 months, and its relationship with maternal gestational obesity or diabetes, and with cognitive development, as measured from 6 to 60 months of age by the Griffith's Mental Development Scales. Gut microbiota composition in the first phases of life is dominated by Bifidobacteria (Actinobacteria phylum), with contribution of Escherichia/Shigella and Klebsiella genera (Proteobacteria phylum), whereas Firmicutes become more dominant at 36 months of age. Maternal overweight leads to lower abundance of Bifidobacterium, Blautia and Ruminococcus, and lower practical reasoning scores in the offspring at the age of 36 months. In the whole population, microbiota in the first-pass meconium samples shows much higher alpha diversity compared to later samples, and its composition, particularly Bifidobacterium and Veillonella abundances, correlates with practical reasoning scores at 60 months of age. Maternal overweight correlates with bacterial colonization and with the development of reasoning skills at pre-school age. Associations between neonatal gut colonization and later cognitive function provide new perspectives of primary (antenatal) prevention of neurodevelopmental disorders.
