Maternal microbiota and antibodies as advocates of neonatal health.
Stephanie Christine Ganal-VonarburgTobias FuhrerMercedes Gomez de AgüeroPublished in: Gut microbes (2017)
Mammalian body surfaces are inhabited by vast numbers of microbes, the commensal microbiota, which help the host to digest food, provide nutrients, and mature its immune system. For a long time, postnatal colonization was believed to be the main stimulus for microbial-induced immune development. Using a model of reversible colonization of germ-free mice during gestation, we recently showed that the microbial shaping of the neonatal immune system begins even before birth through molecular signals derived from the microbiota of the mother. Maternal microbiota was important to mature intestinal innate immune cells and to alter intestinal gene expression profiles in the offspring. These changes prepare the newborn for postnatal colonization. The majority of the gestational colonization-dependent effects required maternal antibodies. Here, we discuss and provide further evidence how maternal antibodies are important players in transferring a signal originating from the maternal intestinal microbiota to the offspring.
Keyphrases
- birth weight
- pregnancy outcomes
- gestational age
- weight gain
- preterm infants
- immune response
- healthcare
- microbial community
- public health
- high fat diet
- type diabetes
- mental health
- body mass index
- skeletal muscle
- genome wide
- dna methylation
- cystic fibrosis
- social media
- staphylococcus aureus
- heavy metals
- endothelial cells
- physical activity
- candida albicans
- pseudomonas aeruginosa
- stress induced