Investigating the Association Between Prenatal Stress and Neurodevelopment: The Contribution of the Gut Microbiota
Date
2022-06
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Abstract
Prenatal stress is common among pregnant individuals and has been associated with adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes in children. Emerging evidence has independently linked children’s gut microorganisms (i.e., gut microbiota) to prenatal stress and neurodevelopment. For this reason, the current study wanted to determine if the child’s gut microbiota mediates the relationship between prenatal stress and Full-Scale Intelligence Quotient (FSIQ) in children aged 3-4. Prenatal stress was operationalized for 248 women using maternal salivary cortisol samples and mood questionnaires to generate a psychological distress score at each trimester. Children collected fecal samples and completed a standardized neurocognitive assessment to evaluate gut microbiota features and FSIQ, respectively. Results indicate that prenatal stress was associated with the child’s gut alpha diversity (i.e., different bacteria types), bacteria relative abundance, and selective metabolic pathways in a trimester-dependent manner. Also, we found that the child’s gut microbiota features are not associated with FSIQ. Even though prenatal stress was associated with the child’s gut microbiota, the study findings indicate that child’s gut microbiota does not mediate the relationship between prenatal stress and FSIQ in children aged 3-4. Despite previous studies providing strong evidence linking gut microbiota to neurodevelopment, the current study does not provide direct or indirect support for this relationship.
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Keywords
Neurodevelopment, Gut Microbiota, Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis, Cognition, FSIQ
Citation
Rojas, L. (2022). Investigating the association between prenatal stress and neurodevelopment: the contribution of the gut microbiota (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.