Pregnancy during COVID 19 pandemic associated with differential gut microbiome composition as compared to pre-pandemic
Abstract The first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent health mandates resulted in significant disruptions to daily life, creating a period of heightened psychosocial stress in myriad aspects. Understanding the impact of this period on pregnant individuals’ bacteriomes is crucial as pr...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2024-11-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-77560-x |
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| author | Therese A. Rajasekera Jeffrey D. Galley Lauren Mashburn-Warren Christian L. Lauber Michael T. Bailey Brett L. Worly Tamar L. Gur |
| author_facet | Therese A. Rajasekera Jeffrey D. Galley Lauren Mashburn-Warren Christian L. Lauber Michael T. Bailey Brett L. Worly Tamar L. Gur |
| author_sort | Therese A. Rajasekera |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent health mandates resulted in significant disruptions to daily life, creating a period of heightened psychosocial stress in myriad aspects. Understanding the impact of this period on pregnant individuals’ bacteriomes is crucial as pregnancy is a period of heightened vulnerability to stress and its sequelae, anxiety and mood disorders, which have been demonstrated to alter gut microbiome composition. In a prospective cohort study (N = 12–26) conducted from February 2019 to August 2021, we examined psychometric responses and rectal microbiome swabs from pregnant individuals. Full-length 16 S rRNA sequencing followed by calculation of diversity metrics and relative abundance values were used to interrogate fecal microbiome community composition across pandemic groups. Distinct shifts in bacterial diversity and composition were observed during early to late pregnancy in the pandemic group, including lower relative abundance of pathogenic and lesser-known taxa. However, distribution of stress and depressive symptoms did not significantly differ from the pre-pandemic period while the correlation between stress and depressive symptoms dissipated during the pandemic. Our findings suggest that living through the COVID-19 pandemic altered the gut microbiome of pregnant individuals, independent of perceived stress. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-13f75b8a2ce54767b1fffc2b70bf31a9 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-13f75b8a2ce54767b1fffc2b70bf31a92025-08-20T02:13:39ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222024-11-0114111410.1038/s41598-024-77560-xPregnancy during COVID 19 pandemic associated with differential gut microbiome composition as compared to pre-pandemicTherese A. Rajasekera0Jeffrey D. Galley1Lauren Mashburn-Warren2Christian L. Lauber3Michael T. Bailey4Brett L. Worly5Tamar L. Gur6Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical CenterDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical CenterInstitute for Genomic Medicine, Nationwide Children’s HospitalInstitute for Genomic Medicine, Nationwide Children’s HospitalInstitute for Behavioral Medicine Research, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical CenterObstetrics and Gynecology, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical CenterDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical CenterAbstract The first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent health mandates resulted in significant disruptions to daily life, creating a period of heightened psychosocial stress in myriad aspects. Understanding the impact of this period on pregnant individuals’ bacteriomes is crucial as pregnancy is a period of heightened vulnerability to stress and its sequelae, anxiety and mood disorders, which have been demonstrated to alter gut microbiome composition. In a prospective cohort study (N = 12–26) conducted from February 2019 to August 2021, we examined psychometric responses and rectal microbiome swabs from pregnant individuals. Full-length 16 S rRNA sequencing followed by calculation of diversity metrics and relative abundance values were used to interrogate fecal microbiome community composition across pandemic groups. Distinct shifts in bacterial diversity and composition were observed during early to late pregnancy in the pandemic group, including lower relative abundance of pathogenic and lesser-known taxa. However, distribution of stress and depressive symptoms did not significantly differ from the pre-pandemic period while the correlation between stress and depressive symptoms dissipated during the pandemic. Our findings suggest that living through the COVID-19 pandemic altered the gut microbiome of pregnant individuals, independent of perceived stress.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-77560-xGut microbiomePregnancyCOVID-19 pandemicStress |
| spellingShingle | Therese A. Rajasekera Jeffrey D. Galley Lauren Mashburn-Warren Christian L. Lauber Michael T. Bailey Brett L. Worly Tamar L. Gur Pregnancy during COVID 19 pandemic associated with differential gut microbiome composition as compared to pre-pandemic Scientific Reports Gut microbiome Pregnancy COVID-19 pandemic Stress |
| title | Pregnancy during COVID 19 pandemic associated with differential gut microbiome composition as compared to pre-pandemic |
| title_full | Pregnancy during COVID 19 pandemic associated with differential gut microbiome composition as compared to pre-pandemic |
| title_fullStr | Pregnancy during COVID 19 pandemic associated with differential gut microbiome composition as compared to pre-pandemic |
| title_full_unstemmed | Pregnancy during COVID 19 pandemic associated with differential gut microbiome composition as compared to pre-pandemic |
| title_short | Pregnancy during COVID 19 pandemic associated with differential gut microbiome composition as compared to pre-pandemic |
| title_sort | pregnancy during covid 19 pandemic associated with differential gut microbiome composition as compared to pre pandemic |
| topic | Gut microbiome Pregnancy COVID-19 pandemic Stress |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-77560-x |
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