Maternal nutrition during pregnancy is increasingly recognized as a key determinant of offspring health, influencing not only fetal growth and development but also long-term endocrine and metabolic outcomes. One important mediator in this relationship is the gut microbiota, which is shaped by maternal diet and plays a central role in regulating immune responses, metabolism, and hormonal signaling. Studies suggest that disruptions in maternal microbiota, whether through poor diet, obesity, antibiotics, or metabolic disorders, can alter fetal programming and endocrine development, increasing the risk of metabolic diseases such as obesity and diabetes in the offspring. For example, recent studies have suggested that maternal gut microbiota in mice can modulate offspring metabolic risk through short-chain fatty acid signaling via GPR pathways, linking microbial metabolites to endocrine pathways. Additionally, maternal gut microbiota-produced short-chain fatty acids have been shown to influence fetal and newborn metabolism through impacts on insulin levels.
While the connection between maternal diet, gut microbiota, and endocrine function is gaining attention, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly defined. There is a need to better understand how maternal microbial environments influence key hormonal pathways in early life and how these changes contribute to disease susceptibility later in life.
This Research Topic aims to explore how maternal nutrition influences maternal and neonatal gut microbiota and how these microbial shifts affect offspring endocrine development. We seek to clarify the molecular, epigenetic, and immunological mechanisms through which maternal microbiota modulates fetal hormone signaling and metabolic programming. The collection also aims to evaluate how maternal metabolic disorders and microbiome-targeted interventions influence these outcomes. By integrating findings across disciplines, we hope to identify predictive biomarkers, therapeutic targets, and dietary strategies that could improve endocrine health from early developmental stages. Ultimately, this Research Topic aims to close critical knowledge gaps and support the development of interventions that reduce the burden of endocrine-related diseases across generations.
To do this, we welcome original research, review articles, and clinical studies that explore the interplay between maternal nutrition, gut microbiota, and endocrine development. We invite contributions in the following areas:
• The impact of maternal macronutrient and micronutrient intake on microbiota composition and endocrine programming
• Influence of maternal metabolic disorders (e.g., gestational diabetes, obesity) on offspring gut microbiota and endocrine health
• Role of maternal microbiota in fetal hormone regulation, metabolic programming, and immune-endocrine interactions
• Effects of prebiotics, probiotics, and dietary interventions on maternal-fetal microbiota and endocrine outcomes
• Epigenetic and microbiome-mediated mechanisms linking maternal diet to long-term metabolic and endocrine health in offspring
By integrating research from endocrinology, microbiology, nutrition, and developmental biology, this Research Topic will advance our understanding of how early-life environmental factors shape endocrine health and disease risk across generations.
Article types and fees
This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
Case Report
Clinical Trial
Editorial
FAIR² Data
FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
General Commentary
Hypothesis and Theory
Methods
Mini Review
Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.
Article types
This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
