Zijlmans Maartje A C, Korpela Katri, Riksen-Walraven J Marianne, de Vos Willem M, de Weerth Carolina
Department of Developmental Psychology, Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, Postbus 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Department of Bacteriology and Immunology, Immunobiology Research Program, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland.
Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2015 Mar;53:233-45. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2015.01.006. Epub 2015 Jan 19.
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.
母亲产前压力常与婴儿身体发育、健康以及心理功能和行为相关。然而，这些关系背后的机制仍不清楚。本研究的目的是前瞻性地调查肠道微生物群的发育，作为连接母亲产前压力和婴儿健康的潜在途径。在56名荷兰顺产健康婴儿队列中，跟踪记录了出生后前110天婴儿肠道微生物群的发育情况。此外，还研究了婴儿肠道微生物群与胃肠道及过敏症状之间的关系。结果显示，母亲产前压力，即报告的压力或母亲基础唾液皮质醇浓度升高或两者皆有，与通过系统发育微阵列确定的婴儿微生物群组成密切且持续相关。孕期累积压力高（即报告的压力高且皮质醇浓度高）的母亲所生婴儿，已知含有病原体的变形菌门菌群（与大肠杆菌、沙雷氏菌和肠杆菌有关）的相对丰度显著更高，而乳酸菌（即乳酸杆菌、乳球菌、气球菌）和双歧杆菌的相对丰度更低，这些都是炎症水平可能升高的特征。此外，这种异常的定植模式与母亲报告的更多婴儿胃肠道症状和过敏反应有关。总之，发现母亲产前压力与婴儿肠道微生物群及健康之间存在明确联系。虽然无法得出因果关系，但结果表明了一种母亲产前压力影响后代发育的可能机制。这些结果表明，对于有压力的孕妇，细菌干预有可能促进后代健康和发育。
