Healthcare (Commonwealth Union) – When the gut of a pregnant woman contains Bifidobacterium breve—a beneficial bacterium commonly found in probiotic drinks—it helps the placenta increase its production of pregnancy hormones, lowering the risk of complications such as preeclampsia and miscarriage.
A research team from the University of Cambridge has provided the first solid evidence that this ‘good’ gut microbe in expectant mothers influences the placenta’s hormone production, which is essential for a healthy pregnancy.
In experiments with mice, the scientists compared the placentas of those with no gut bacteria to those carrying Bifidobacterium breve during pregnancy.
Mice lacking this bacterium were more likely to experience pregnancy complications, including fetal growth restriction, low fetal blood sugar, and higher fetal loss.
The findings suggest that Bifidobacterium breve plays a vital role in triggering the placenta to release hormones that enable the mother’s body to sustain the pregnancy.
This marks the first discovery connecting the gut microbiome to the placenta.
According to the researchers, the breakthrough could lead to early screening of a mother’s gut microbiome to predict risks such as gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, or miscarriage — and to the potential use of probiotics to boost the chances of a healthy pregnancy.
The findings appeared recently in the Journal of Translational Medicine.
Dr Jorge Lopez Tello, the first author of the report, who conducted the study while at the University of Cambridge, Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience indicated that their results open up an entirely new path to evaluate the health of a pregnant mother and her developing fetus by examining the gut microbiome of the mother.
He said “Everybody ignores the placenta – after nine months of pregnancy it just gets thrown in the bin. But now we understand more about how it works, in the future pregnancy complications like gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, miscarriage and stillbirth might be prevented simply by adjusting the mother’s gut microbes to improve the function of the placenta.”
The placenta plays a vital role during pregnancy, linking the mother and fetus while supplying the essential nutrients, oxygen, and hormones needed for the baby’s healthy growth.
In the research, more than 150 biological processes in the placenta—linked to over 400 distinct proteins—were observed to differ between mice with and without Bifidobacterium breve in their gut.
Mice that harbored Bifidobacterium breve experienced fewer pregnancy losses.
As researchers of the study noticed that their placentas had greater efficiency in absorbing and transferring key nutrients, like amino acids and lactate, from the mother to the fetus, which is essential for fetal development. The placentas also formed elevated levels of pregnancy-related hormones, that consisted of prolactins and pregnancy-specific glycoproteins.
The utilization of mice, whose diet, activity, and gut microbiome could be strictly maintained, scientists made sure that other variables, played no role in impacting the results. This controlled method made it possible for them to show the specific importance of Bifidobacterium breve—a finding that could also have an impact on human pregnancies.
The scientists stressed that further research is required to fully evaluate how these “beneficial” bacteria engage within the human gut microbiome and if it is possible for them to be safely influenced with no harm.
Bifidobacterium breve is naturally present in the human gut, but in pregnant women, its levels can be affected by factors such as stress or obesity. This “good” bacteria is also commonly available as a supplement in probiotic drinks and capsules.
Up to 10% of first-time mothers give birth to babies with low birth weight or restricted fetal growth. Inadequate growth in the womb can increase the likelihood of conditions such as cerebral palsy during infancy, and mental health or neurodevelopmental issues—including anxiety, depression, autism, and schizophrenia—later in life.
