Elucidation of the basic physiological condition that the healthy maternal microbiota prepares for the normal brain development of the offspring.

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K08242
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 52050:Embryonic medicine and pediatrics-related
• Research Institution: Suzuka University of Medical Science
• Principal Investigator: Tochitani Shiro 鈴鹿医療科学大学, 保健衛生学部, 教授 (90418591)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 母体腸内細菌 / 垂直伝搬 / 撹乱 / 環境因子 / 腸内細菌叢定着

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The principal investigator previously showed that the perturbation of gut bacteria in pregnant mice affects brain development after birth, leading to behavioral changes in the offspring (Tochitani, 2016: Perturbed maternal gut microbiota model). In this research, using this perturbed maternal gut microbiota model, we examined how the perturbed maternal gut microbiota affects the establishment of the offspring's gut microbiota in the early postnatal period. It was shown that the offspring's gut microbiota closely inherits the perturbed profile of the maternal gut microbiota. However, it was also found that some bacterial genera, which exhibit high relative abundances in the perturbed maternal gut microbiota, had their growth suppressed in the offspring. This indicates that the transmission of gut microbiota from mother to offspring depends on bacterial classification.

Free Research Field

胎児・新生児医学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

腸内細菌叢を構成する細菌の多くは、子が産道を通る際から母親など周囲の環境から取り込み、育んでいく。多くの場合、母親が子の腸内細菌叢の第一の源である。今回、研究代表者らはマウス仔が撹乱された母体腸内細菌叢を出生後継承する様子を観察し、子の細菌叢形成過程で最初に定着する細菌群が、その後の出生後早期の腸内細菌叢の定着・遷移パターンに影響を与えることを明らかにした。周産期のヒト母体腸内細菌叢は、ストレス、高脂肪食、感染症罹患など様々な環境要因で撹乱される可能性がある。本研究の結果は周産期に母体腸内細菌叢を健全に保つことが、子の健全な腸内細菌叢の定着・形成や子の心身の発達において重要であることを示す。