Lin Huang, Perkins Neil J, Nkoy Flory, Stanford Joseph B, Schliep Karen C, Peddada Shyamal D
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Branch (BBB), Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), NIH, Bethesda, MD 20817, USA.
Genes (Basel). 2024 Dec 13;15(12):1595. doi: 10.3390/genes15121595.
Emerging literature indicates that the microbiome and its byproducts, such as short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), play an important role in childhood diseases such as allergies and asthma. Specifically, there is evidence suggesting that SCFAs play a critical role in fetal immunoprogramming during the late saccular phase of fetal lung development. An increase in acetate during the late saccular phase is known to play a critical role in inhibiting histone deacetylases (HDACs), resulting in a cascade of events, including Treg immune regulation, involved in fetal immunoprogramming, and reduction in the asthma phenotype. However, it is not known whether changes in SCFA levels, especially acetate, occurred during the canalicular or early saccular phase among pregnant women whose children did not develop asthma.
In this research, we investigated this question using plasma samples obtained from mothers during the 20th and 28th weeks of pregnancy. Mothers whose children developed asthma were categorized as cases, while those whose children did not were categorized as controls. The specimens were assayed for a panel of SCFAs consisting of acetate, propionate, butyrate, valerate, isobutyrate, and isovalerate.
The resulting data indicated no significant differences between the cases and controls, either at week 20 or week 28, in any of the SCFAs measured, despite the vascularization during these phases.
We did not find differences in measured SCFAs at week 20 or at week 28. A larger prospective study covering multiple time points is necessary to confirm the findings of this preliminary study. Such a study, together with the published literature regarding later time points, may help discover critical windows during pregnancy when simple manipulation of diet will result in healthier outcomes for infants.
新出现的文献表明，微生物群及其代谢产物，如短链脂肪酸（SCFAs），在儿童疾病如过敏和哮喘中起重要作用。具体而言，有证据表明，SCFAs在胎儿肺发育的囊泡晚期胎儿免疫编程中起关键作用。已知囊泡晚期乙酸盐的增加在抑制组蛋白脱乙酰酶（HDACs）中起关键作用，导致一系列事件，包括参与胎儿免疫编程的调节性T细胞（Treg）免疫调节以及哮喘表型的减轻。然而，尚不清楚在其子女未患哮喘的孕妇中，SCFA水平的变化，尤其是乙酸盐水平的变化，是否发生在小管期或囊泡早期。
在本研究中，我们使用从母亲怀孕第20周和第28周采集的血浆样本调查了这个问题。其子女患哮喘的母亲被归类为病例组，而其子女未患哮喘的母亲被归类为对照组。对样本检测了一组包括乙酸盐、丙酸盐、丁酸盐、戊酸盐、异丁酸盐和异戊酸盐的SCFAs。
所得数据表明，尽管在这些阶段有血管形成，但在第20周或第28周，病例组和对照组在所测量的任何SCFAs方面均无显著差异。
我们在第20周或第28周未发现所测量的SCFAs存在差异。需要进行一项涵盖多个时间点的更大规模的前瞻性研究来证实这项初步研究的结果。这样一项研究，连同关于后期时间点的已发表文献，可能有助于发现孕期的关键窗口期，此时简单的饮食调整将为婴儿带来更健康的结果。
