Abstract
Objective: To characterize the gut microbiota in patients with preeclampsia (PE) compared with healthy controls.Methods: We analyzed and compared the microbiota communities in the feces of 48 PE patients with 48 age-, gestational weeks-, and pre-pregnancy body mass index-matched healthy controls using 16S rRNA gene sequencing, and also we tested fecal and plasma lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and plasma trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) concentration levels in the two groups.Results: Compared with the control group, microbial alpha diversity was lower in the PE group, but there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups. At the phylum level, Firmicutes (51.64% PE vs. 59.62% Control, P < 0.05), Bacteroidetes (40.51% PE vs. 34.81% Control, P< 0.05), Proteobacteria (4.51% PE vs. 2.56% Control, P < 0.05), and Actinobacteria (2.90% PE vs. 1.77% Control, P < 0.05), exhibited significant differences between the PE group and the control group. LEfSe analysis found 17 differentially abundant taxa between the two groups. PICRUSt analysis found that in the KEGG pathways, the microbial gene functions related to LPS biosynthesis were higher in the fecal microbiome of the PE group. The fecal and plasma LPS concentrations and plasma TMAO concentrations of PE patients were higher than those of the healthy controls.Conclusion: PE patients had gut microbiota dysbiosis and increased plasma LPS and TMAO levels, which will lead to a better understanding of the relationship between the gut microbiota and PE.
Highlights
Preeclampsia (PE) is a pregnancy-specific, complex and multisystem disorder characterized by hypertension and proteinuria after 20 weeks’ gestation, and is one of the major causes of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality worldwide, affecting 3–8% of all pregnancies in the world (Plaks et al, 2013)
Recent studies have found that gut microbiome dysbiosis could result in intestinal barrier disorder and bacterial translocation which would trigger a state of persistent systemic inflammation, leading to the pathogenesis and the development of diseases, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, atherosclerosis, hypertension, and chronic kidney diseases (Andersen et al, 2017; Jonsson and Bäckhed, 2017; Li et al, 2017)
Stool samples from 48 PE patients and 48 age, gestational weeks (GW), and pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI)-matched healthy controls were collected for analysis of gut microbiota and fecal LPS concentrations
Summary
Preeclampsia (PE) is a pregnancy-specific, complex and multisystem disorder characterized by hypertension and proteinuria after 20 weeks’ gestation, and is one of the major causes of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality worldwide, affecting 3–8% of all pregnancies in the world (Plaks et al, 2013). Recent studies have found that gut microbiome dysbiosis could result in intestinal barrier disorder and bacterial translocation which would trigger a state of persistent systemic inflammation, leading to the pathogenesis and the development of diseases, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, atherosclerosis, hypertension, and chronic kidney diseases (Andersen et al, 2017; Jonsson and Bäckhed, 2017; Li et al, 2017). Fecal microbiome-targeted strategies have proven to be a powerful tool for early diagnosis and treatment of different diseases
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
