Maternal diesel particle exposure alters gut microbiota and induces lung injury in rat offspring
Maternal exposure to diesel exhaust particles (DEP) impairs fetal lung development and disrupts the gut microbiome. In this study, pregnant Sprague Dawley rats were intranasally administered either PBS (control) or DEP from gestational days 16 to 21. Lower gastrointestinal tract samples were collected from dams and offspring on postnatal days 0 and 7 to assess 16S rRNA gene-based microbiome profiles, correlating taxonomic and functional alterations with neonatal lung injury.