Prenatal and postnatal contributions of the maternal microbiome on offspring programming.

Prenatal and postnatal contributions of the maternal microbiome on offspring programming. Front Neuroendocrinol. 2019 Sep 28;:100797 Authors: Jašarević E, Bale TL Abstract The maternal microbiota is positioned to regulate the development of offspring immunity, metabolism, as well as brain function and behavior. The mechanisms by which maternal microbial signals drive these processes are beginning to be elucidated. In this review, we provide a brief overview on the importance of the microbiome in brain function and behavior, define the maternal vaginal and gut microbiota as distinct influences on offspring development, and outline current concepts in microbial origins of offspring health outcomes. We propose that the maternal microbiota influences prenatal and early postnatal offspring development and health outcomes through two overlapping processes. First, during pregnancy maternal gut microbiota provide metabolites and substrates essential for fetal growth through metabolic provisioning, driving expansion and maturation of central and peripheral immune cells, and formation of neural circuits. Second, vertical transmission of maternal microbiota during birth and in the early postnatal window elicits a potent immunostimulatory effect in offspring that induces metabolic and developmental transcriptional programs, primes the immune system for subsequent microbial exposure, and provides substrates for brain metabolism. Finally, we exp...
Source: Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology - Category: Endocrinology Authors: Tags: Front Neuroendocrinol Source Type: research