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Pregnancy alters resident gut microbes
Nature News ^ | 02 August 2012 | Monya Baker

Posted on 08/03/2012 11:30:26 PM PDT by neverdem

Third-trimester microbiota resembles that of people at risk of diabetes.

Women's gut microbe populations change as pregnancy advances, becoming more like those of people who might develop diabetes. These changes, which do not seem to damage maternal health, correspond with increases in blood glucose and fat deposition thought to help a mother nourish her child.

Although scientists have profiled microbial communities around the world and throughout the human body, this is the first time they have tracked the gut microbiome during pregnancy, says Ruth Ley, a microbiologist at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, who led the work1.

Ley had previously explored the interplay of gut microbiota with metabolic syndrome2, a precursor to diabetes that is characterised by high levels of inflammatory markers, blood sugar and fats. Because similar changes occur during pregnancy, she wondered whether the gut microbiota might reflect this. She and her colleagues sequenced microbial DNA from stool samples collected early and late in pregnancy, and found consistent shifts in the bacterial communities.

Overall, the diversity of gut bacteria declined between the first and third trimesters, but the abundance of certain types, such as the Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria, increased. These are also more common in people who are obese or have metabolic syndrome, says Ley. “Proteobacteria in particular are often the bad guys in these studies. They are associated with inflammation.”

“This is the next step in describing how completely normal states of health can have profound changes,” says Kjersti Aagaard, an obstetrician at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, who was not involved in the research. The fact that the observed shift occurred by the third trimester of pregnancy makes sense, she says. “That's when babies start packing on the pounds.” Earlier this year, Aagaard and her co-workers published work comparing vaginal microbiomes in pregnant...

(Excerpt) Read more at nature.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Testing
KEYWORDS: diabetes; metabolicsyndrome; microbiology; pregnancy
Metabolic syndrome
1 posted on 08/03/2012 11:30:35 PM PDT by neverdem
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To: Mother Abigail; EBH; vetvetdoug; Smokin' Joe; Global2010; Battle Axe; null and void; ...
FReepmail me if you want on or off my combined microbiology/immunology and/or diabetes ping lists.
2 posted on 08/03/2012 11:47:18 PM PDT by neverdem (Xin loi minh oi)
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To: neverdem

Bump because it’s interesting.


3 posted on 08/04/2012 2:11:30 AM PDT by Colorado Buckeye (It's the culture stupid!)
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To: neverdem

Which in some cases leads to gestational diabetes and later full blown diabetes in some moms?


4 posted on 08/04/2012 4:04:14 AM PDT by 1010RD (First, Do No Harm)
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To: neverdem

Naw, she just needs to eat less. Calorie in/calorie out, you know. /s/


5 posted on 08/04/2012 4:41:16 AM PDT by netmilsmom (Romney scares me. Obama is the freaking nightmare that is so bad you are afraid to go back to sleep)
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To: neverdem

Interesting stuff. Nature provides....


6 posted on 08/04/2012 5:58:12 AM PDT by Bigg Red (Pray for our republic.)
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To: Bigg Red

Which is a good thing, considering how obsessed so many young women are with weight. What is sad is that some are not giving their infants and children enough to eat, especially not enough fat which growing brains need, to keep them healthy, because of their own fear of weight gain. They are hurting their children’s development, and ironically, setting these kids up to be fat later in life as their bodies try to make up for the earlier deprivation.


7 posted on 08/07/2012 7:40:12 AM PDT by Pining_4_TX ( The state is the great fiction by which everybody seeks to live at the expense of everybody else. ~)
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To: Pining_4_TX

Good points. I remember reading some years ago about a situation in NYC. There were some very young children from affluent families presenting with nutritional deficiencies because the parents had put them on low-fat diets.


8 posted on 08/07/2012 7:48:42 AM PDT by Bigg Red (Pray for our republic.)
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