ArticlePloS one2021
Maternal precarity and HPA axis functioning shape infant gut microbiota and HPA axis development in humans.
Article in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
32 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 48 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prenatal Maternal Stress and Infant Gut Microbiome in Human and Animal Studies: A Comprehensive Systematic Review.Developmental psychobiology · 2026Pooled it
- The Gut Microbiome in Early Life Stress: A Systematic Review.Nutrients · 2023Pooled it
- The Gut Microbiome in Early Ontogeny: Implications for Brain and Immune System Development.Journal of developmental biology · 2026Review
- Maternal Microbiome in Fetal Programming: A One Health Perspective on Translational Implications for Early-Life Health.Microorganisms · 2026Review
- Postpartum Pain and Vaginal-Gut Microbiota Interactions: An Integrative Narrative Review with Implications for Maternal Recovery and Pain Modulation.Journal of pain research · 2026Review
- Examining associations among caregiver stress, social support, and the infant gut microbiota.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Modulating depression through the gut-brain axis: the role of gut microbiota in therapeutic interventions.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2025Review
- Gut microbiota in anxiety and depression: mechanisms, drug interactions, and therapeutic implications.Pharmacological reports : PR · 2025Review
- Beyond the gut: decoding the gut-immune-brain axis in health and disease.Cellular & molecular immunology · 2025Review
- Beyond microbial exposure and colonization: multisensory shaping of the gut microbiome.mSystems · 2025Review
- Early-pregnancy per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and maternal post-pregnancy weight trajectory.Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) · 2025Article
- The impact of perinatal maternal stress on the maternal and infant gut and human milk microbiomes: A scoping review.PloS one · 2025Article
- Gut microbiota: a new target for the prevention and treatment of insomnia using Chinese herbal medicines and their active components.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Review
- Role of gut microbiota in neuroinflammation: a focus on perioperative neurocognitive disorders.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2025Review
- Household food and water insecurity and its association with diarrhoea, respiratory illness, and stunting in Ecuadorian children under 5 years.Maternal & child nutrition · 2024Article
- Early Life Adversity, Microbiome, and Inflammatory Responses.Biomolecules · 2024Review
- Neurodevelopmental Disorders Associated with Gut Microbiome Dysbiosis in Children.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Maternal stress during the third trimester of pregnancy and the neonatal microbiome.The journal of maternal-fetal & neonatal medicine : the official journal of the European Association of Perinatal Medicine, the Federation of Asia and Oceania Perinatal Societies, the International Society of Perinatal Obstetricians · 2023Article
- The Role of the Adrenal-Gut-Brain Axis on Comorbid Depressive Disorder Development in Diabetes.Biomolecules · 2023Review
- Social and psychological adversity are associated with distinct mother and infant gut microbiome variations.Nature communications · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundEarly life exposure to adverse environments, and maternal stress in particular, has been shown to increase risk for metabolic diseases and neurobehavioral disorders. While many studies have examined the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA axis) as the primary mechanism behind these relationships, emerging research on the brain-gut axis suggests that the microbiome may play a role. In this study, we tested the relationships among maternal precarity and HPA axis dysregulation during the peripartum period, infant gut microbiome composition, and infant HPA axis functioning.
methodsData come from 25 mother-infant dyads in the Galápagos, Ecuador. Women completed surveys on precarity measures (food insecurity, low social support, depression, and stress) and gave salivary cortisol samples during and after pregnancy. Infant salivary cortisol and stool were collected in the postpartum. Statistical significance of differences in microbial diversity and relative abundance were assessed with respect to adjusted linear regression models.
resultsMaternal precarity was associated with lower diversity and higher relative abundance of Enterobacteriaceae and Streptococcaceae and a lower relative abundance of Bifidobacterium and Lachnospiraceae. These patterns of colonization for Enterobacteriaceae and Bifidobacterium mirrored those found in infants with HPA axis dysregulation. Maternal HPA axis dysregulation during pregnancy was also associated with a greater relative abundance of Veillonella.
conclusionsOverall, exposures to precarity and HPA axis dysregulation were associated with an increase in groups that include potentially pathogenic bacteria, including Enterobacteriaceae, Streptococcaceae, and Veillonella, and a decrease in potentially protective bacteria, including Bifidobacterium and Lachnospiraceae, as well as a decrease in overall diversity.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.