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. 2025 May 31;25(1):636.
doi: 10.1186/s12884-025-07760-4.

Study on characteristics of gut flora composition of pregnant women with preeclampsia

Genxia Li  1 , Huan Niu  2 , Mingkun Xie  2 , Manman Yang  2 , Mengyu Li  2 , Yujing Hao  2 , Junya Zhang  2
Affiliations

Study on characteristics of gut flora composition of pregnant women with preeclampsia

Genxia Li et al. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. .

Abstract

Objectives: To explore the relationship between preeclampsia and the changes of the intestinal microflora.

Methods: Illumina HiSeq sequencing platform was used to sequencing the 16S rRNA of bacteria in stool samples from 54 pregnant women. The experimental group included 27 women with preeclampsia (PRE), consisting of 13 women with severe preeclampsia (SP) and 14 women with non-severe preeclampsia (P). The control group comprised 27 healthy pregnant women (NOR).

Results: The bacterial Alpha diversity of the PRE group was higher than that of the normal group, but P>0.05. The dominant flora in the four groups were Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria. The abundance of Synergistetes in the PRE group was significantly lower than that in normal group and Bacteroidetes in the P group was significantly higher than that in SP group, and Firmicutes in the P group was significantly lower than that in the SP group(P < 0.05). LEfSe analyses showed, there were 9 flora differences between PRE group and NOR group, between P and SP groups that only Ruminococcaceae showed a difference. Differential species screening showed, there are 3 flora were significantly different between the PRE vs. NOR groups (P < 0.05). There are 4 flora were significantly different between the P vs. SP groups (P < 0.05). Functional difference analysis showed significant differences in 8 signaling pathways between the NOR group and the PRE group and 11 signaling pathways between P group and SP group.

Conclusion: There are significant changes in intestinal flora between preeclampsia patients and healthy controls, which may be involved in the regulation of the occurrence and development of preeclampsia.

Keywords: Biomarker; Intestinal flora; Metabolic diseases; Preeclampsia; Pregnancy.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: The protocol of the study was approved by the ethical committee of third affiliated hospital of Zhengzhou University(2018 Medical Ethics Review No. 14), China. All participants were told about the purpose of the study and informed written consent was taken from all study subjects. This study strictly adhered to the ethical principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki (World Medical Association, 2013 revision). Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Venn diagram of OTU distribution of different groups samples
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Alpha box diagram of samples from different groups. ((A) shows PRE vs. NOR, and (B) shows P vs. SP.)
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
PLS-DA plots of the OTU distribution of PRE vs. NOR and P vs. SP groups
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Histogram of species abundance of PRE vs. NOR and P vs. SP groups (phylum level)
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
LEfSe analysis clustering chartandof PRE vs. NOR and P vs. SP groups
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
LDA diagram ofPRE vs. NOR and P vs. SP groups
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
Difference analysis of Wilcoxon rank-sum test at species level
Fig. 8
Fig. 8
Key species difference analysis of PRE vs. NOR and P vs. SP groups. *, P < 0.05
Fig. 9
Fig. 9
Analysis of the difference of intestinal microbial function between PRE vs. NOR and P vs. SP groups
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