Gut-placenta axis: gut microbiota metabolites may play a role in regulating maternal-fetal immune tolerance and the pathogenesis of adverse pregnancy outcomes

Description

Ruxue Zhou and Shenglan Wang review a two-way link between a mother's gut and the placenta, in this narrative review from twenty twenty-six. During pregnancy the body reshapes its metabolism, immunity, and hormones, and gut microbes seem to help steer that change from afar. Their chemical products travel in the blood and can cross into the placenta.

Helpful products, such as short-chain fatty acids from fiber, tend to support calm immune balance between mother and fetus. Harmful ones build up when diet, illness, or antibiotics upset the gut, and they are linked with miscarriage, preeclampsia, diabetes in pregnancy, stunted fetal growth, and early birth. The review also flags open disputes, such as whether microbes live in the placenta at all, and notes that proof from large trials is still missing. The authors sketch a research plan built on chemical markers and tailored microbe care.

Catalog record

Source: https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13613048