Pregnant women’s specific microbiomes varied based on whether they were experiencing life stress, symptoms of anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to a study by a team of Michigan State University researchers. Further, their team’s findings suggest that the oral microbiome could be a potential target for developing treatments for mental health during pregnancy.
This work builds on the evidence that the microbiome is linked to mental health issues in pregnant women and new mothers.
The researchers write, “Although several studies have shown links between the diversity of microbes in the gastrointestinal tract and stress, anxiety, and depression in pregnant women and new mothers, no previous study has looked at the association between the type and number of microorganisms in the mouth and throat—oral microbiome—and maternal mental health.”
The paper appeared in BMJ Mental Health and the first author is Ann M. Alex, PhD, research associate, Institute for Quantitative Health Science & Engineering, Michigan State University.
“Successful targeting of the gut microbiome with probiotic treatment to improve maternal mental health could be extended in future studies to target oral cavity microbes through dietary changes, making recommendations for improving oral health, and probiotic treatments that might benefit mothers struggling with high life stress and poor mental health,” they wrote.
The study included 224 pregnant women enrolled in the Michigan Prenatal Stress Study assessed for recent stresses and mental health symptoms during their second trimester. Women were asked to provide saliva samples during the week of their assessments.
The results showed the oral microbiome varied with whether women had reported life stress, anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms during the assessments.
Oral microbiomes of women with high anxiety or depression symptoms showed high alpha diversity, which means they included many types of microbe species present at relatively even levels, i.e. it was less likely that one species dominated. Women with high levels of PTSD symptoms, meanwhile, instead showed high beta diversity, species notably different from the those found in women with low PTSD symptoms.
Specific stress and mental health traits were also associated with high levels of certain microbe species. Women who had experienced recent life stress had a greater abundance of species in the phylum Proteobacteria, while Spirochaetes was more abundant in women with high levels of depression symptoms. Greater numbers of Dialister species and species in the phylum Firmicutes were seen in women with levels of anxiety and depression symptoms, and species in the genus Eikenella were elevated in women with high anxiety, depression or PTSD.
Twenty two potential covariates were investigated to see whether they influenced changes in the microbiome. This analysis revealed that cigarette smoking could explain 7.2% of the variance seen in oral microbiomes, dental problems could explain 3.1%, intimate partner violence could explain 4.1%, and unplanned pregnancy could explain 2%.
The researchers suggest that the oral microbiome could be a potential target for interventions to improve poor psychological well-being during pregnancy.
