Pregnancy stress and mental health affect the oral microbiome
· News-MedicalAlthough several studies have shown links between the diversity of microbes in the gastrointestinal tract and stress, anxiety and depression in pregnant women and new mothers, no previous study has looked at the association between the type and number of microorganisms in the mouth and throat-;oral microbiome-;and maternal mental health.
The results showed the oral microbiome varied with whether women had reported life stress, anxiety, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms during the assessments.
Oral microbiomes of women with high anxiety or depression symptoms showed high alpha diversity, which means they included many types of microbe species present at relatively even levels, i.e. it was less likely that one species dominated.
Oral microbiomes of women with high levels of PTSD symptoms instead showed high beta diversity, which means the specific microbe species in their saliva notably differed from the species found in women with low PTSD symptoms.
Twenty two potential covariates were investigated to see whether they influenced changes in the microbiome. This analysis revealed that cigarette smoking could explain 7.2% of the variance seen in oral microbiomes, dental problems could explain 3.1%, intimate partner violence could explain 4.1% and unplanned pregnancy could explain 2%.
The authors conclude, "Our study shows that numerous aspects of the oral microbiome in pregnancy are associated with women's life stress and mental health. Importantly, these associations differ from studies of the gut microbiome and studies of non-pregnant people."
"Successful targeting of the gut microbiome with probiotic treatment to improve maternal mental health could be extended in future studies to target oral cavity microbes through dietary changes, making recommendations for improving oral health, and probiotic treatments that might benefit mothers struggling with high life stress and poor mental health," they say.
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