IBD study to shed light on how gut microbiota in pregnancy affects offspring

Researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) are recruiting pregnant women with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), their newborns and spouse for a study to investigate how early-life exposure influences gut microbiota and IBD risk in the offspring, and to develop novel treatments for the increasingly prevalent condition.

Pregnant women with IBD and their infants who participate in the study will receive interdisciplinary care, including interventions aiming at helping them restore healthy gut microbiota.

“Recent evidence suggests that the gastrointestinal tracts of newborns become colonized with bacteria while in the mother’s womb,” said Professor Siew Ng of the Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, and Microbiota I-Center, CUHK. “This initial colonization is believed to play a crucial role in priming the immune system of infants and in influencing their risk of developing immune-mediated diseases, such as IBD, later in life.”

“Furthermore, microbiome in early childhood is highly unstable and most susceptible to change. Studies have shown, for instance, that use of antibiotics early in life is associated with subsequent IBD development,” she continued. [Gut 2011;60:49-54; Gastroenterology 2011;140:1713-1719; Nature 2012;486:222-227]

Ng and colleagues therefore launched the MoMmy-CD (Mother-to-Infant Transfer of Bacteriome, Virome, Fungome and Metabolome in Health and Crohn’s Disease) study to evaluate how early-life environmental factors and diet can influence later-life health, and to harness the findings for disease prediction, prevention and treatment.

Parents participating in the study will be followed up in each trimester of pregnancy, while their infants will be followed up at 1, 2, 9–12 and 18 months, and subsequently at 2–7 years after birth. Serial biological samples, including parental stool, saliva, placenta, cord blood, meconium, infant stool and breast milk, will be collected for analysis.

Big data analysis of stool samples will yield reports describing microbiome profile, including diversity, abundance of beneficial and unfavourable microbes, detailed description of each microbe, and risk prediction for various diseases. Dietary advice will be provided as needed.

“Preliminary data from the study showed lower microbiome diversity in mothers with IBD compared with healthy controls,” reported Ng.

In addition, higher transmission of pathogenic bacteria and fungi during pregnancy was found in IBD mother-infant pairs, compared with healthy mother-infant pairs, based on assessment at 1 month after birth.

“These preliminary findings suggest that gut dysbiosis in mothers with IBD has an impact on the newborns’ gut microbiota, which may contribute to an increased risk of IBD in childhood,” said Ng.

Results of the study are anticipated to help identify pathogenic and protective micro-organisms, and facilitate development of gut microbiota modulation strategies (including functional diet, faecal microbiota transplant, and specific targeted probiotics) for disease prevention.

As of December 2022, 20 pairs of mothers with IBD and their infants were recruited. Interested parties may contact the research team at 6154 2979 (phone call or WhatsApp) or visit https://bit.ly/3FxJUJ1 for details of the study and enrollment.

“Increasing evidence supports the far-reaching health impacts of the human microbiota on the health of babies,” said Ng. “In addition to IBD, gut microbiota in infancy and early childhood is also associated with cognitive development, mental health, and risks of subsequent autism spectrum disorder, obesity, allergies, diabetes, cancer, coronary heart disease, and metabolic syndrome.”

“Participation in the study will help us discover potentially modifiable maternal and postnatal factors to reduce babies’ risk of developing diseases,” she added. “Our goal is to translate the microbiome into medicine, and thereby reduce the health burden of debilitating diseases.”