High-fat diets may impair the mother’s gut barrier during pregnancy, study reveals

13 May 2019 --- A high-fat diet may contribute to the impairment of the gut barrier during pregnancy, which can lead to metabolic shifts and impede fetal development, according to a new mouse study published in The Journal of Physiology. Previously, scientists had assumed that the changes in metabolism during pregnancy were entirely attributed to pregnancy hormones. Findings from the new study, however, suggest that changes in the maternal gut microbiome may contribute to these metabolic changes. With this knowledge, researchers say there is a therapeutic opportunity to modify this microbial community during pregnancy to improve both maternal and offspring health.

In the study, researchers fed female mice a high-fat diet for six weeks before and throughout pregnancy, followed by an analysis of how the intestinal community of microbes changed. The scientists tested the maternal intestinal barrier by measuring how much of a large molecule was able to cross the from the maternal intestine into the bloodstream and studying how the placenta and fetus developed as a result.

The gut acts as a barrier preventing microbes and other intestinal contents from entering the bloodstream. However, in the mouse study, researchers found that more molecules were able to cross this barrier in pregnant mice. This loss of barrier was even greater when pregnant mice were fed a high-fat diet, resulting in increased inflammatory markers in maternal circulation.

These changes in the mother may further impact fetal development, as the study found that placental oxygen levels were decreased by maternal high-fat diet. Changes in the placenta could contribute to altered intestinal development of the fetus. Impaired fetal intestinal development could lead to altered intestinal function of the infant after birth, which would ultimately impact the baby’s metabolism.

“We are currently investigating when these changes in maternal barrier function occur and how they interact with the microbes in the intestines to influence the metabolism of the mom and development of the baby,” says Deborah Sloboda, senior author on the study.

These latest findings trail a deepening interest in the physiological and metabolic impacts of high fat consumption and weight gain, particularly where the gut microbiome is influenced. Last March, a similar mouse study linked high-fat diet to altered microflora and inflammation, leading to heart failure. In other recent research, obesity and a high-fat, high-sugar diet during pregnancy was found to predispose children to obesity – while a separate study suggested that hereditary obesity may even compromise the health of second and third generations.