title: Fat and vitamin intakes during pregnancy have stronger relations with a pro-inflammatory maternal microbiota than does carbohydrate intake.
abstract: Although diet is known to have a major modulatory influence on gut microbiota, knowledge of the specific roles of particular vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients is limited. Modulation of the composition of the microbiota in pregnant women is especially important as maternal microbes are transferred during delivery and initiate the colonization process in the infant. We studied the associations between intake of specific dietary nutrients during pregnancy and gut microbiota composition.
  
  
  
  Utilizing the Norwegian NoMIC cohort, we examined the relations between intakes of 28 dietary macro- and micronutrients during pregnancy, derived from food frequency questionnaires administered to 60 women in the second trimester, and observed taxonomic differences in their gut microbiota four days after delivery (assessed through Illumina 16S rRNA amplicon analysis).
  
  
  
  Higher dietary intakes of fat-soluble vitamins, especially vitamin D, were associated with reduced microbial alpha diversity (p value <0.001). Furthermore, using recently developed statistical methodology, we discovered that the variations in fat-soluble vitamins, saturated and mono-unsaturated fat, and cholesterol intake, were associated with changes in phyla composition. Specifically, vitamin D, mono-unsaturated fat, cholesterol, and retinol were associated with relative increases in Proteobacteria, which is a phylum known to encompass multiple pathogens and to have pro-inflammatory properties. In contrast, saturated fat, vitamin E, and protein were associated with relative decreases in Proteobacteria.
  
  
  
  The results in this article indicate that fats and fat-soluble vitamins are among the most potent dietary modulators of gut microbiota in mothers. The shifts in microbiota due to diet need to be further studied alongside gut microbiota changes during pregnancy to better understand the impact on infant gut microbiota.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Exposure and Epidemiology, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.|Present address: Public Health Foundation of India, Gurgaon, India.
authors.forename: Siddhartha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mandal
authors.affiliation: MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit and NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre, University of Southampton and University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, Southampton, UK.
authors.forename: Keith M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Godfrey
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics at the University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: McDonald
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Will V
authors.initials: WV
authors.lastname: Treuren
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Exposure and Epidemiology, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.|Microbiological Department Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.|Institute for Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Jørgen V
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Bjørnholt
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell biology (MTC), Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Tore
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Midtvedt
authors.affiliation: The Norwegian Institute of Food Fisheries and Aquaculture, Aas, Norway.
authors.forename: Birgitte
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Moen
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Biotechnology and Food Science, Norwegian Institute of Life Sciences, Aas, Norway.
authors.forename: Knut
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rudi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics at the University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA.|Department of Computer Science, UC San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Rob
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Knight
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Exposure and Epidemiology, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Anne Lise
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Brantsæter
authors.affiliation: Biostatistics and Computational Biology Branch, National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, Durham, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Shyamal D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Peddada
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Exposure and Epidemiology, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway. merete.eggesbo@fhi.no.
authors.forename: Merete
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Eggesbø
mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D004032:Diet; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002149:Energy Intake; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D000069196:Gastrointestinal Microbiome / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D018977:Micronutrients / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D020560:Proteobacteria / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development*; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014815:Vitamins / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D004041:Dietary Fats; D018977:Micronutrients; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D014815:Vitamins
keywords: Compositional shifts; Mono-unsaturated fat; Proteobacteria; Vitamin D