Hong Kong Microbiome Research Hub--Large-scale Mother-Baby Study Finds Altered Gut Microbiome 

TrialSite has over the last couple years chronicled one published finding after another involving the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) Faculty of Medicine (CU Medicine) and its microbiome research center of excellence.  Most recently the academic medical center reports on a  prospective large-scale, longitudinal birth cohort study called  MOMmy (MOther-infant Microbiota transmission and its link to long terM health of babY), conducted  examining the gut microbiota of pregnant mothers and babies to assess how early-life exposure can affect the child’s lifelong health and be harnessed to predict, prevent and treat disease. For the first time, the research team presented the gut microbiome trajectory of mothers with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM)-- a type of diabetes that develops during pregnancy when the placenta produces hormones that prevent the body from using insulin effectively--- and of infants during the first year of life. The findings of this study reveal that mothers with GDM history have a distinct microbiome diversity and composition during the gestation period, and GDM leaves fingerprints on the infant’s gut microbiome for up to 12 months of age. The altered gut microbiome of infants born to GDM mothers is associated with a larger head circumference which relates to early life neurodevelopment.

The findings were published in the international journal Cell Host & Microbe. This study was funded by the Hong Kong government’s InnoHK initiative.