The study, published in the international journal BMC Medicine, analysed stool and amniotic fluid samples from 60 pregnant women. Researchers investigated how maternal factors during pregnancy affect small particles produced by the body’s microbiota, known as extracellular vesicles. These are signalling particles released by bacteria that enable microbes to communicate with one another and influence the host’s cells.
The researchers found that the profile of microbiota-derived vesicles in both the gut and amniotic fluid varied between mothers. Maternal overweight, obesity, gestational diabetes and weight gain of more than 15 kilograms during pregnancy were associated with microbiota-derived vesicle profiles, particularly in amniotic fluid. In these mothers, the proportion of vesicles produced by certain bacterial groups was lower than in the other study participants.
Visit: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12916-026-04960-3
