Maternal vaginal fluids play a major role in the colonization of the neonatal intestinal microbiota

Jingxian Xie; Chen Tang; Shouqiang Hong; Yuntian Xin; Jie Zhang; Yi Lin; Lindong Mao; Yunshan Xiao; Quanfeng Wu; Xueqin Zhang; Heqing Shen

doi:10.3389/fcimb.2023.1065884

Maternal vaginal fluids play a major role in the colonization of the neonatal intestinal microbiota

Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2023 Mar 15:13:1065884. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2023.1065884. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Jingxian Xie¹, Chen Tang^{2

3}, Shouqiang Hong³, Yuntian Xin⁴, Jie Zhang³, Yi Lin³, Lindong Mao³, Yunshan Xiao¹, Quanfeng Wu¹, Xueqin Zhang¹, Heqing Shen^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Obstetrics, Women and Children's Hospital, School of Medicine, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China.
² School of Life Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Molecular Vaccinology and Molecular Diagnostics, School of Public Health, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen, Fujian, China.

Abstract

Background: Caesarean section (CS) is associated with newborns' health risks due to the blocking of microbiome transfer. The gut microbiota of CS-born babies was different from those born vaginally, which may be attributed to reduced exposure to maternal vaginal microbes during labour. To understand the microbial transfer and reduce CS disadvantages, the effect of vaginal microbiota exposure on infant gut microbiota composition was evaluated using 16s rDNA sequencing-based techniques.

Results: Pregnant women were recruited in the Women and Children's Hospital, School of Medicine, Xiamen University from June 1^st to August 15^th, 2017. Maternal faeces (n = 26), maternal vaginal fluids (n = 26), and neonatal transitional stools (n = 26) were collected, while the participants underwent natural delivery (ND) (n = 6), CS (n = 4) and CS with the intervention of vaginal seedings (I) (n = 16). 26 mothers with the median age 26.50 (25.00-27.25) years showed no substantial clinical differences. The newborns' gut microbiota altered among ND, CS and I, and clustered into two groups (PERMANOVA P = 0.001). Microbial composition of ND babies shared more features with maternal vaginal samples (PERMANOVA P = 0.065), while the microbiota structure of ND babies was obviously different from that of sample of maternal faeces. The genus Bacteroides in CS-born babies with intervention approached to vaginal-born neonates, compared with CS-born neonates without intervention.

Conclusions: Neonatal gut microbiota was dependent on the delivery mode. And the gut microbiota CS newborns with vaginal seeding shared more features with those of ND babies, which hinted the aberrant gut microbiota composition initiated by CS might be partly mitigated by maternal vaginal microbiota exposure.

Keywords: caesarean section; gut microbiome; newborn; transitional stool; treatment; vaginal fluid.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Cesarean Section
Child
Feces
Female
Gastrointestinal Microbiome*
Humans
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Microbiota*
Pregnancy

Grants and funding

This work was financially supported by Xiamen Medical and Health Project (Instructional Project) [No.3502Z20189050] and Xiamen Science and Technology Plan Project [No.3502Z20199138] and [No.3502Z20191102].