Abstract
BackgroundEarly life exposure to adverse environments, and maternal stress in particular, has been shown to increase risk for metabolic diseases and neurobehavioral disorders. While many studies have examined the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA axis) as the primary mechanism behind these relationships, emerging research on the brain-gut axis suggests that the microbiome may play a role. In this study, we tested the relationships among maternal precarity and HPA axis dysregulation during the peripartum period, infant gut microbiome composition, and infant HPA axis functioning.MethodsData come from 25 mother-infant dyads in the Galápagos, Ecuador. Women completed surveys on precarity measures (food insecurity, low social support, depression, and stress) and gave salivary cortisol samples during and after pregnancy. Infant salivary cortisol and stool were collected in the postpartum. Statistical significance of differences in microbial diversity and relative abundance were assessed with respect to adjusted linear regression models.ResultsMaternal precarity was associated with lower diversity and higher relative abundance of Enterobacteriaceae and Streptococcaceae and a lower relative abundance of Bifidobacterium and Lachnospiraceae. These patterns of colonization for Enterobacteriaceae and Bifidobacterium mirrored those found in infants with HPA axis dysregulation. Maternal HPA axis dysregulation during pregnancy was also associated with a greater relative abundance of Veillonella.ConclusionsOverall, exposures to precarity and HPA axis dysregulation were associated with an increase in groups that include potentially pathogenic bacteria, including Enterobacteriaceae, Streptococcaceae, and Veillonella, and a decrease in potentially protective bacteria, including Bifidobacterium and Lachnospiraceae, as well as a decrease in overall diversity.
Highlights
Important both developmentally and evolutionarily, growth within the first 1000 days, the period from conception through the second year of life, constitutes a sensitive period during which an individual’s phenotype is plastic
Maternal precarity was associated with lower diversity and higher relative abundance of Enterobacteriaceae and Streptococcaceae and a lower relative abundance of Bifidobacterium and Lachnospiraceae
Exposures to precarity and HPA axis dysregulation were associated with an increase in groups that include potentially pathogenic bacteria, including Enterobacteriaceae, Streptococcaceae, and Veillonella, and a decrease in potentially protective bacteria, including Bifidobacterium and Lachnospiraceae, as well as a decrease in overall diversity
Summary
Important both developmentally and evolutionarily, growth within the first 1000 days, the period from conception through the second year of life, constitutes a sensitive period during which an individual’s phenotype is plastic. Research on the developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) has shown that stress experienced in utero and in early life shapes longterm risk for metabolic diseases, including obesity, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes [1] as well as neurobehavioral disorders in offspring even when controlling for adverse birth outcomes [2,3]. Many animal models have primarily linked prenatal stress exposure to hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA axis) dysregulation [4], but studies with humans have not consistently identified a mechanism for the relationship, and research has not fully explored other pathways for these changes in development, in particular, the role of the gut microbiome. Life exposure to adverse environments, and maternal stress in particular, has been shown to increase risk for metabolic diseases and neurobehavioral disorders. We tested the relationships among maternal precarity and HPA axis dysregulation during the peripartum period, infant gut microbiome composition, and infant HPA axis functioning
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