Probiotics may alleviate nausea and vomiting in pregnancy, study finds

06 Dec 2021 --- Probiotics may be the answer to pregnancy-related nausea, vomiting and constipation symptoms, according to a study conducted at the University of California Davis School of Medicine.

Supplementation with a Lactobacillus dominant over-the-counter probiotic led to a 16% reduction in nausea hours – the number of hours participants felt nauseous – and the number of times vomiting was reduced by 33%.

Probiotics were also found to reduce constipation significantly.

Additionally, as scored by questionnaires, probiotic intake improved symptoms related to the quality of life, such as fatigue, poor appetite and difficulty maintaining normal social activities.

“Over the years, I’ve observed that probiotics can reduce nausea and vomiting and ease constipation. It’s very encouraging that the study proved this to be true. Probiotics have also benefited many of my other patients who weren’t in the study,” says Albert Liu, lead study author and professor at the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of California.

Potential to improve quality of life
These study findings give researchers a better understanding of why some people experience increased stomach upset during pregnancy than others.

Nausea and vomiting affect about 85% of pregnancies and can significantly impact the quality of life, particularly during early pregnancy.Nausea and vomiting affect about 85% of pregnancies.

“The cause of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy is unknown to this date. Various theories have been proposed, but none of them are conclusive,” adds Liu.

“Nausea, vomiting and constipation during pregnancy can significantly diminish the quality of patients’ lives. Once nausea and vomiting during pregnancy progress, they can become difficult to control, and sometimes the patient even needs to be hospitalized.”

Probiotics’ pregnancy link
Hormones like estrogen and progesterone increase during pregnancy, leading to physical changes. These increases can also change the gut microbiome, affecting the digestive system functions and causing unwanted symptoms like nausea, vomiting and constipation.

The 16-day study included 32 participants who took a probiotic capsule twice a day for six days and then two days off. They then repeated the cycle. Each probiotic capsule had approximately 10 billion live cultures at the time of manufacture.

The participants then tracked their daily symptoms throughout the study, and the researchers analyzed these and found the probiotic significantly reduced nausea and vomiting.

Identifying “vomiting” bacteria
Participants also contributed fecal specimens before and during the study. The samples were analyzed to identify the type and number of microbes and the different byproducts of digestion. They examined if biomarkers in the fecal specimens corresponded with more severe nausea and assessed how the probiotics affected participants who began the study with different baseline biomarkers.

One finding was that a low amount of bacteria that carry an enzyme named bile salt hydrolase, which generates bile acid to absorb nutrients, was associated with more pregnancy-related vomiting. Probiotics increase bile salt hydrolase-producing bacteria, which may explain why the supplements decreased levels of nausea and vomiting.Supplementing with a probiotic could be beneficial for gastrointestinal function during pregnancy.

Another finding was that high levels of A. muciniphila at the beginning of the study were associated with more vomiting. The probiotic significantly reduced the amount of those particular microbes and also reduced vomiting. This suggests A. muciniphila may be a reliable biomarker predicting vomiting in pregnancy.

A. muciniphila was recently approved by EFSA for use in weight management supplements next year. The “next-generation” strain was isolated from human gut microbiota.

Another finding was that vitamin E levels increased after taking probiotics. Higher levels of vitamin E were associated with low vomiting scores.

Supplement solutions for pregnant women
According to a recent US study, the risk of gestational diabetes can be reduced by 47% if one consumes 100 mg of caffeine during pregnancy. A separate US study found that women who got a higher dose of DHA supplementation had fewer preterm births overall.

Moreover, a University of Granada study found fish oil supplementation during pregnancy boosted brain function in 10-year-olds.

Edited by Nicole Kerr