孕期压力或可影响婴儿肠道微生物菌群的多样性

  近日，来自荷兰内梅亨大学（Radboud University）大学的研究人员通过研究表明，怀孕期间经历压力的女性更容易使其腹中婴儿的肠道中缺乏肠道菌群，并且引发高风险的肠道问题及过敏症反应等，这或许会在以后影响婴儿的机体发育和健康，相关研究刊登于国际杂志Psychoneuroendocrinology上。

  女性怀孕期间压力往往和儿童身体和心理问题直接相关，为什么会这样呢？文章中研究人员以调查问卷的形式分析了怀孕女性的压力和焦虑水平，并且检测了参与者唾液中激素皮质醇的水平；另外研究人员对出生7天至4个月的56名儿童的粪便进行检测，结果发现怀孕女性机体高压力水平及较高的皮质醇水平和婴儿机体肠道微生物菌群的多样性直接相关。

  研究者表示，高压力及高水平皮质醇的女性所生婴儿的肠道中的蛋白菌水平较高，但乳酸菌和放线菌的水平较低，这就表明婴儿肠道中微生物菌群的多样性较低，而不同微生物菌群之间的关联及关系同婴儿患肠道疾病和过敏反应直接相关。

  Carolina de Weerth教授说道，本文的研究结果揭示了怀孕期间女性压力对所生婴儿的影响，如果人为地给予婴儿一些有益菌或许可以改变婴儿后期的机体发育，相关研究为后期更清楚地阐明孕期女性压力和所生婴儿机体健康之间的关联，也为后期开发治疗提高婴儿肠道菌群多样性的新型疗法提供了一定的帮助。（转化医学网360zhyx.com）

  以上为转化医学网原创翻译整理。如需转载，请联系 info@360zhyx.com。
转化医学网推荐的原文摘要：

Maternal Prenatal Stress is Associated with the Infant Intestinal Microbiota
Psychoneuroendocrinology doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2015.01.006
Maartje A.C. Zijlmans1, Katri Korpela1, J. Marianne Riksen-Walraven, Willem M. de Vos, Carolina de Weerth
Maternal prenatal stress has been often associated with infant physical development and health, as well as psychological functioning and behavior. However, the mechanisms underlying these relations remain elusive. The goal of the present study was to prospectively investigate the development of the intestinal microbiota as a potential pathway linking maternal prenatal stress and infant health. The development of the infant intestinal microbiota was followed over the first 110 days after birth in a healthy cohort of 56 vaginally born Dutch infants. Additionally, the relation between infant intestinal microbiota and gastrointestinal and allergic symptoms was examined. Results showed that maternal prenatal stress, i.e., either reported stress or elevated basal maternal salivary cortisol concentrations or both, was strongly and persistently associated with the infants’ microbiota composition as determined by a phylogenetic microarray. Infants of mothers with high cumulative stress (i.e., high reported stress and high cortisol concentrations) during pregnancy had significantly higher relative abundances of Proteobacterial groups known to contain pathogens (related to Escherichia, Serratia, and Enterobacter), and lower relative abundances of lactic acid bacteria (i.e., Lactobacillus, Lactoccus, Aerococcus) and Bifidobacteria, altogether characteristics of a potentially increased level of inflammation. Furthermore, this aberrant colonization pattern was related to more maternally reported infant gastrointestinal symptoms and allergic reactions. In conclusion, clear links were found between maternal prenatal stress and the infant intestinal microbiota and health. Although causality cannot be concluded, the results suggest a possible mechanism by which maternal prenatal stress influences the offspring development. These results suggest a potential for bacterial interventions to enhance offspring health and development in pregnant women with stress.