BACKGROUND Research has revealed associations between microbes of the gastrointestinal tract and stress, anxiety and depression in pregnant or postpartum women. While these studies suggest a gut-brain-behaviour axis, no studies have examined microbes of the oral cavity in relation to maternal mental health. OBJECTIVE To explore a potential oral-brain-behaviour axis related to maternal mental health. METHODS Microbes were measured in saliva obtained from 224 second-trimester (mean±SD = 17±2 weeks) women oversampled for stress. Oralome data were associated with women's recent or cumulative pregnancy stress, trait and state anxiety, depression symptoms and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Covariates explored included age, income, alcohol and tobacco use, dental issues and physical health problems. RESULTS Pregnant women in the high trait anxiety or depression symptom groups had higher oral alpha diversity, indicating higher richness of species within samples. Groups with high and low PTSD symptoms differed in beta diversity, reflecting differences in community composition. Linear discriminant analysis showed differently abundant microbes in women with high stress versus low life stress, anxiety, depression, and PTSD, with the affected microbes mostly differing by symptom. Notably, members of phylum Proteobacteria were more abundant in women with high recent life stress and Spirochaetes was more abundant in women with high depression symptoms. Members of phylum Firmicutes were more abundant in the high trait anxiety and high depression groups. Genus Dialister (previously found to be lower in the gut of depressed non-pregnant people) was higher in women experiencing either high trait or state anxiety, or experiencing high depression symptoms, while genus Eikenella was elevated with high trait anxiety, depression or PTSD. CONCLUSIONS The oral microbiome is associated with stress and mental health in pregnant women, in ways different from the gut microbiome or what has been found in non-pregnant people. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS Understanding oral microbiome-mental health relations may reveal future microbial targets to improve maternal psychological well-being.

中文翻译：

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怀孕早期的压力和心理健康症状与口腔微生物组有关。


背景 研究揭示了胃肠道微生物与孕妇或产后妇女的压力、焦虑和抑郁之间的关联。虽然这些研究表明存在肠-脑-行为轴，但没有研究检查口腔微生物与产妇心理健康的关系。目的 探讨与孕产妇心理健康相关的潜在口腔-大脑-行为轴。方法 测量 224 名因压力过度采样的孕中期 （平均值 ±SD = 17±2 周） 妇女的唾液中的微生物。Oralome 数据与女性近期或累积的妊娠压力、特质和状态焦虑、抑郁症状和创伤后应激障碍 （PTSD） 症状相关。探讨的协变量包括年龄、收入、酒精和烟草使用、牙齿问题和身体健康问题。结果 高性状焦虑或抑郁症状组中的孕妇具有较高的口腔 α 多样性，表明样本中物种的丰富度更高。具有高和低 PTSD 症状的群体在 β 多样性方面存在差异，反映了社区构成的差异。线性判别分析显示，高压力女性与低生活压力、焦虑、抑郁和 PTSD 女性的微生物丰度不同，受影响的微生物大多因症状而异。值得注意的是，变形菌门的成员在近期生活压力较高的女性中更为丰富，而螺旋体在高度抑郁症状的女性中更为丰富。厚壁菌门的成员在高性状焦虑和高抑郁组中更为丰富。 Dialister 属（以前发现在抑郁的非孕妇的肠道中较低）在经历高性状或状态焦虑或经历高抑郁症状的女性中较高，而 Eikenella 属在高性状焦虑、抑郁或 PTSD 中升高。结论 口腔微生物组与孕妇的压力和心理健康相关，与肠道微生物组或非孕妇发现的方式不同。临床意义 了解口腔微生物组与心理健康的关系可能会揭示未来的微生物靶点，以改善孕产妇的心理健康。