Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Maternal Dietary Iron Intake during Pregnancy Has a Potential Effect on the Neonate Gut Microbiota Profile

Version 1 : Received: 19 October 2023 / Approved: 19 October 2023 / Online: 19 October 2023 (10:34:35 CEST)

How to cite: Qi, Q.; Liu, D.; Wang, L.; Zhu, Y.; Gebremedhin, M.A.; Zhu, Z.; Zeng, L. Maternal Dietary Iron Intake during Pregnancy Has a Potential Effect on the Neonate Gut Microbiota Profile. Preprints 2023, 2023101242. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202310.1242.v1 Qi, Q.; Liu, D.; Wang, L.; Zhu, Y.; Gebremedhin, M.A.; Zhu, Z.; Zeng, L. Maternal Dietary Iron Intake during Pregnancy Has a Potential Effect on the Neonate Gut Microbiota Profile. Preprints 2023, 2023101242. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202310.1242.v1

Abstract

The aim of the study was to investigate the association between maternal dietary iron intake during pregnancy and the gut microbiota characteristics of both the mother and neonate in a well-characterized cohort. A total of 95 mother-neonate dyads were included in our study, with basic information collected through questionnaires. A semi-quantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) was used to assess maternal dietary intake during pregnancy, and maternal dietary iron intake was categorized into <20 mg/d and ≥20 mg/d groups. Fecal samples were collected from the mother in the third trimester and the neonate, allowing for assessment of the community profile and diversity of gut microbiota via 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. Then, a comparison between different maternal dietary iron intake groups was conducted, adjusting for delivery mode (VD, vaginal delivery; CS, cesarean section) and other potential confounding factors. No significant differences in community profile and diversity were observed for the maternal gut microbiota in different dietary iron intake groups. In neonate fecal samples, the Shannon (P = 0.044) and Simpson (P = 0.010) diversity indices of the gut microbiota were higher in the maternal dietary iron intake ≥20 mg/d group, while Simpson diversity presented the same tendency in vaginal delivery (P = 0.041) after stratification. The relative abundance of the core genus Bifidobacterium showed a significant difference between groups (4.69 [1.19–12.77] vs. 13.98 [3.44–27.28]; P = 0.044). The abundance of Lactobacillus was different in the ≥20 mg/d group under both delivery modes (VD: beta = 2.9, w = 4.13; CS: beta = 2.77, w = 3.8). Our findings suggest that adequate dietary iron intake during pregnancy may promote beneficial bacterial colonization and increase the biodiversity of the neonate gut microbiota.

Keywords

dietary iron; pregnancy; mother; Neonate; gut microbiota

Subject

Public Health and Healthcare, Public Health and Health Services

Comments (0)

We encourage comments and feedback from a broad range of readers. See criteria for comments and our Diversity statement.

Leave a public comment
Send a private comment to the author(s)
* All users must log in before leaving a comment
Views 0
Downloads 0
Comments 0
Metrics 0


×
Alerts
Notify me about updates to this article or when a peer-reviewed version is published.
We use cookies on our website to ensure you get the best experience.
Read more about our cookies here.