Effects of galactooligosaccharides on maternal metabolism and gut microbiota in pregnancy

Jiayang Wan¹Lin An²Zhenghong Ren²Huixia Yang^1*Jingmei Ma^1*

• ¹Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, First Hospital, Peking University, Beijing, China
• ²Department of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing, China

The gut microbiota of pregnant women changes dynamically with gestational weeks, adapting to the physiological changes of pregnancy. At the same time, dysbacteriosis is involved in the pathophysiological process of pregnancy diseases. The research on gut microbiota and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is relatively in-depth, prebiotics may improve the metabolic immune function of pregnant women by stimulating the growth of beneficial bacteria and promoting short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). Previous animal studies suggest that prebiotic preparations derived from galactooligosaccharides (GOS) in human milk are superior to other prebiotics. This study aims to explore the systemic effect of GOS targeting gut microbiota from the level of metabolism, immunity and circulating SCFAs. 135 pregnant women with delivery outcomes and matched BMI were included in the analysis. From the first trimester (T1) to the second trimester (T2), the GOS group and the control group took GOS and fructooligosaccharides (FOS) preparations respectively. Blood samples were collected for LC-MS metabolomics analysis and short-chain fatty acid targeted detection. At the same time, the clinical information and the overweight and obesity subgroups were analyzed. Stool samples were collected for 16S rRNA sequencing analysis. The correlation between the differential flora and glycolipid metabolism, inflammatory factors and metabolites was analyzed. Metabolites pathway analysis indicates that butyrate, propionate and other SCFAs metabolism are enriched. The correlation analysis with clinical glucose and lipid metabolism index showed that hexanoic acid was negatively correlated with the lipid metabolism index TCHO (r = -0.415, P < 0.001) and LDL (r = -0.347, P < 0.01). The relative abundance of Dorea and Paraprevotella had a positively correlation trend with hexanoic acid. GOS with ingredients derived from human milk may target the gut microbiota to produce hexanoic acid, thereby improving lipid metabolism and inflammation, and is beneficial for overweight and obese people with GDM.