Association between the Maternal Gut Microbiome and Macrosomia

Area of Science:

• Microbiome Research
• Maternal-Fetal Medicine
• Genomics and Bioinformatics

Background:

• Fetal macrosomia (birthweight ≥4000 g) poses risks to mothers and infants.
• The maternal gut microbiome influences fetal intestinal microbiome development.
• The specific relationship between maternal gut microbiota and fetal macrosomia is not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify gut microbiota associated with fetal macrosomia.
• To explore potential mechanisms linking maternal gut microbiota to macrosomia.
• To develop an early pregnancy prediction model for macrosomia using maternal gut microbiota.

Main Methods:

• Nested case-control study involving 93 pregnant women (31 with macrosomia, 62 controls).
• Metagenomic analysis of fecal samples to compare gut microbiome composition and function.
• Correlation analysis and random forest modeling for association and prediction.

Main Results:

• Increased abundance of Bacteroides salyersiae, Bacteroides plebeius, Ruminococcus lactaris, and Bacteroides ovatus in mothers of macrosomic infants.
• Elevated functional pathways including gondoate biosynthesis and cis-vaccenate biosynthesis in the macrosomia group.
• A predictive model combining four differential species and four clinical indicators achieved high accuracy (AUC 0.935 training, 0.909 validation).

Conclusions:

• Maternal gut microbiota in early pregnancy is significantly associated with fetal macrosomia development.
• Specific gut bacteria and their metabolic pathways may contribute to the pathogenesis of macrosomia.
• Early maternal gut microbiota profiling shows promise as a non-invasive tool for predicting and potentially preventing fetal macrosomia.