title: Maternal microbiome - A pathway to preterm birth.
abstract: Despite great medical advances in preventing maternal and infant mortality in the past century, one issue remains unresolved: why do so many women give birth prematurely? A major new field of human microbiome studies has begun to shed light on the impact of microbes (of both the commensal and pathogen varieties) on pregnancy outcomes. Recent advances in next-generation sequencing and metagenomic analysis have revealed that maternal microbiomes at a variety of niches including the oral, vaginal, gut, cervical, and even the placenta itself govern pregnancy outcomes. In this review, we describe how alterations in the microbial biomasses impact preterm birth and we discuss the major research questions concerning the cause and/or interdependent relationships between microbiome, infection, and preterm delivery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Electronic address: aevintur@ucalgary.ca.
authors.forename: Angela E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Vinturache
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Cynthia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gyamfi-Bannerman
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO, USA; Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, USA.
authors.forename: Indira U
authors.initials: IU
authors.lastname: Mysorekar
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Institute for the Health of Women and Children, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden; Department of Genes and Environment, Division of Epidemiology, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Jacobsson
mesh_terms: D002584:Cervix Uteri / Q000382:microbiology; D064806:Dysbiosis / Q000382:microbiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000382:microbiology; D064307:Microbiota; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000382:microbiology; D010920:Placenta / Q000382:microbiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D047928:Premature Birth / Q000209:etiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D014621:Vagina / Q000382:microbiology
keywords: Commensal flora; Infection; Inflammation; Metagenomics; Microbiome; Preterm birth