Effect of probiotic administration during pregnancy on the functional diversity of the gut microbiota in healthy pregnant women

Abstract

Our study aims to investigate the impact of probiotic consumption during pregnancy on gut microbiota functional diversity in healthy pregnant women. Thirty-two pregnant women were randomly assigned to two groups. The probiotic group (PG) consisted of pregnant women who consumed triple viable Bifidobacterium longum, Lactobacillus delbrueckii bulgaricus, and Streptococcus thermophilus tablets from the 32nd week of pregnancy until delivery. The functional profiles of the gut microbiota were predicted through high-throughput 16S rRNA sequencing results using PICRUSt software and referencing the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database. In the gut microbiota of the PG, the genera Blautia and Ruminococcus, as well as the species Subdoligranulum, showed significantly higher relative abundances compared to the control group (CG) (P < 0.05). At Level 1 of the KEGG signaling pathways, there was a significant reduction in the functional genes of the gut microbiota involved in Organismal Systems in the PG (P < 0.05). In Level 2 of the KEGG signaling pathways, there was a significant reduction in the functional genes of the gut microbiota involved in Infectious Disease in the PG (P < 0.05). In Level 3 of the KEGG signaling pathways, the PG exhibited a significant increase in the functional genes of the gut microbiota involved in ABC transporters, Oxidative phosphorylation, Folate biosynthesis, and Biotin metabolism (P < 0.05). The CG showed a significant increase in the functional genes related to Cysteine and methionine metabolism, Vitamin B6 metabolism, Tuberculosis, and Vibrio cholerae pathogenic cycle (P < 0.05). In conclusion, our findings suggest that probiotic supplementation during pregnancy has a significant impact on functional metabolism in healthy pregnant women.

Importance: Probiotics are considered beneficial to human health. There is limited understanding of how probiotic consumption during pregnancy affects the functional diversity of the gut microbiota. The aim of our study is to investigate the impact of probiotic consumption during pregnancy on the functional diversity of the gut microbiota. Our findings suggest that probiotic supplementation during pregnancy has a significant impact on functional metabolism. This could potentially open up new avenues for preventing various pregnancy-related complications. This also provides new insights into the effects of probiotic consumption during pregnancy on the gut microbiota and offers a convenient method for exploring the potential mechanisms underlying the impact of probiotics on the gut microbiota of pregnant women.

Keywords: functional prediction; gut microbiota; predictive metagenome profiling; pregnancy; probiotic.

Fig 1

Experimental design workflow diagram.

Fig 2

Distribution bar chart of LDA scores for differential microbes in the gut microbiota of two groups of pregnant women and the evolutionary branching diagram of differential microbes. (A) Distribution bar chart of LDA scores for differential microbes in the gut microbiota of two groups of pregnant women. Note: The bar chart in the LDA score distribution displays species with LDA scores greater than the set threshold, which are biomarkers indicating statistically significant differences between groups. The length of the bars represents the magnitude of the impact of differential species (i.e., LDA score). (B) Evolutionary branching diagram of differential microbes in the gut microbiota of two groups of pregnant women. Note: p__: Phylum, c__: Class, o__: Order, f__: Family, g__: Genus, s__: Species. CG: control group, PG: probiotic group.

Fig 3

Comparative abundance of differential microbes in the gut microbiota of two groups of pregnant women. (A) Relative abundance comparison of genera Blautia in the gut microbiota of two groups of pregnant women. (B) Relative abundance comparison of genera Subdoligranulum in the gut microbiota of two groups of pregnant women. (C) Relative abundance comparison of species Ruminococcus_sp__5_1_39BFAA in the gut microbiota of two groups of pregnant women. Note: The abundance in the sample with the highest abundance is set as 1, and the abundance of the differential species in other samples is relative to the highest abundance sample. Solid lines and dashed lines represent the mean and median relative abundances of samples within the groups, respectively. If there is no bar in one of the groups, it indicates the absence of this differential species in that group. CG: control group, PG: probiotic group.

Fig 4

Stacked bar charts of PICRUSt functional metabolic relative abundance. (A and B) Level 1 PICRUSt functional metabolic relative abundance stacked bar charts. (C and D) Level 2 PICRUSt stacked bar charts showing the top 30 functional metabolic relative abundances. (E and F) Level 3 PICRUSt stacked bar charts showing the top 30 functional metabolic relative abundances. Note: The x-axis (Sample Name) represents sample names, and the y-axis (Relative Abundance) indicates the relative abundance. CG: control group, PG: probiotic group.

Fig 5

PICRUSt functional prediction Venn diagram and PCA analysis. (A) Venn diagram depicting the distribution of functional genes in the gut microbiota. (B) PCA analysis based on the composition of functional genes in the gut microbiota. CG: control group, PG: probiotic group.

Fig 6

Bar charts of gut microbiota inter-group functional metabolic differences analyzed using PICRUSt. (A) Bar chart depicting gut microbiota functional metabolic differences at the KEGG Level 1 signal pathway. (B) Bar chart illustrating gut microbiota functional metabolic differences at the KEGG Level 2 signal pathway. (C) Bar chart showing gut microbiota functional metabolic differences at the KEGG Level 3 signal pathway. Note: Different colors in the figure represent different groups. On the left side are the KEGG categories with significant differences between groups and their proportions in each group. On the right side are the confidence intervals and P values for inter-group differences. The leftmost endpoint of each circle represents the lower limit of the 95% confidence interval for the mean difference, the rightmost endpoint represents the upper limit of the 95% confidence interval for the mean difference, and the center of the circle represents the mean difference. CG: control group, PG: probiotic group.

Fig 7

Heatmap of correlation between gut microbiota and metabolic functions. The labels at the bottom represent the names of gut microbial communities, and the labels on the right represent the names of metabolic functions. Purple indicates a positive correlation, while yellow indicates a negative correlation. *P < 0.05, ***P < 0.001.