The exact causes linking prenatal and early life under- or over-nutrition with a higher risk of obesity and metabolic disease in later life remain uncertain.
Previous work shows that the human body can adapt to changing nutrient availability through epigenetic mechanisms, for which plasticity is especially pronounced in early life thereby increasing the adaptability of newborns to their environment.
Study Aim
The research proposal will investigate how maternal oral and vaginal microbiota may contribute as seeding source of early life microbiota. It will also examine if this process is affected by the nutritional status of the mothers and their infants and how they contribute to the metabolic and epigenetic profile in children in the first years of life
Scientific Approach
Leveraging two cohorts, originated from Laos and Spain, to explore the relationships of oral and vaginal microbiota of mothers with the irnutritional stages, and subsequently how they are transmitted to offspring and influenced by children nutritional states.
Expected Outcomes
The proposed research will generate new evidence on mother-infant microbiota transmission and will be the first to analyse possible shared microbial signatures and mechanisms linking early life over- and under-nutrition to metabolic disease in later life.
The results from this research will contribute to guiding future microbiota-targeted nutraceutical strategies to promote children's healthy growth in the future.
