Microbial Metabolites and Outcomes of Pregnancy Study

Plain-language summary

Emerging data connect diet, the gut microbiota and its metabolites in cardiometabolic disease. Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) are common and are a leading cause of maternal and neonatal morbidity. HDP likely share similar pathophysiology as cardiometabolic disease in non-pregnant people with a yet unrevealed role of diet and the gut microbiota, including systemic inflammation and endothelial dysfunction. Despite high biological plausibility that nutrition, the gut microbiota and its metabolites may play a role in health and disease in pregnancy, there is a paucity of data regarding these associations, thus limiting advancement of the field. Similar to the proposed pathogenesis for diet, gut microbiota and the microbial metabolite trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) in cardiovascular disease, we hypothesize that the interplay between maternal diet, the gut microbiota and its associated microbial metabolites play a mechanistic role in HDP. We propose to test this hypothesis in a racially-diverse US cohort to determine association with adverse pregnancy outcomes, specifically future development of HDP. We propose to prospectively collect plasma and urine TMAO throughout pregnancy from a cohort of 200 pregnant participants. Through 1) characterizing plasma and urine TMAO levels across each trimester of pregnancy, and 2) assessment of this microbial metabolite as a predictor of development of HDP, we have the potential to identify a biomarker that would allow us to identify people at risk of HDP early in pregnancy and provide new opportunities for therapeutic interventions to improve maternal and neonatal outcomes.

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