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Probiotic Studies in Neonatal Mice Using Gavage
Published on: January 27, 2019
Associations between fermented dairy food intake during pregnancy and gestational weight gain, macrosomia, and gut
Manoj Gurung1, Ranjitha Chandrashekar2, Jessica L Thomson3
1Microbiome and Metabolism Research Unit, Arkansas Children's Nutrition Center, USDA-ARS, Little Rock, AR, USA.
Background And Aims:
Fermented dairy food (FDF) operationalized in this study as cheese and yogurt, contains beneficial microbes and bioactive metabolites that may support maternal and offspring health, yet FDF intake and its association with maternal-offspring health outcomes is understudied in the US population. We evaluated the associations between FDF intake during pregnancy from the participants of the Growing Life, Optimizing Wellness Study (GLOWING, ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT01131117) and gestational weight gain (GWG), macrosomia (body weight ≥4000 g at birth), and mother and infant microbiota composition.
Methods:
Dietary data were collected using 3-day food records at six pregnancy visits and FDF intake (cheese, yogurt) were extracted based on food descriptions and codes. Maternal microbiota composition was evaluated at each trimester of pregnancy, while the infant microbiota composition was assessed at one month, 6 months and 12 months of age using 16 S rRNA gene sequencing.
Results:
In this cohort, the mean FDF intake during pregnancy was 63 g/day. Higher FDF intake was positively associated with healthier body weight at enrollment and overall Healthy Eating Index score during pregnancy. No significant associations between FDF intake and GWG or macrosomia were observed. FDF intake during pregnancy was negatively associated with only one taxon, Bacteroidetes (now Bacteroidota) in infants aged 6 months.
Conclusion:
While FDF intake during pregnancy was positively associated with healthier pre- or early pregnancy weight and diet quality during pregnancy, it was not associated with GWG, macrosomia, or maternal gut microbiota. These results need to be interpreted in the context of the limited variety and amount of fermented food consumed during pregnancy in this cohort. Future studies that include participants from larger geographical locations with broader FDF intakes could provide more insight into the associations between FDF and maternal and infant health outcomes.
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