Microbial and metabolic alterations in gut microbiota of sows during pregnancy and lactation

What is it about?

The gut microbiome has been proposed to play a critical role in mother and infant health. Although scientists have profiled it throughout pregnancy period before, different voices have been heard about whether the gut microbiota undergoes a dramatic remodeling during pregnancy. This is because the gut microbiota in human studies could be influenced by many factors, such as eating folic acid, probiotics, and the ethnicity. Using a pig model, we controlled these confounding factors and tracked the maternal gut microbiota across the whole reproductive cycle, including pregnancy, lactation and after weaning. We find the maternal gut microbiota changes as pregnancy advances. These changes in the abundance of certain bacteria (Coriobacteriaceae and Escherichia), which is common in different breeds, seem to involve in the physiological and metabolic adjustments to the pregnancy. After delivery, the gut microbiota adjusts itself to produce more short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). These microbial metabolites have been proved could be transferred to the infants and promote maturation of immune system of the child. Hence, we guess that the SCFA metabolites produced by maternal gut microbiota probably act as messengers and help a mother nourish her child and promote the health of her child. Besides, we also identified breed-associated bacteria, such as the Ruminococcaceae enriched in one breed, might contributes to its strong ability to digest fibers. Therefore, the gut microbiota may be a mirror or monitor of the changes in human host, and in this study, it could provide novel insights into the physiology of whole reproductive cycle.

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