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Strong evidence suggests that the early composition of the oral microbiota of neonates plays an important role for the postnatal development of the oral health or immune system. However, the relationship between the maternal microbiome and the initial neonatal microbiome remains unclear. In this study, 25 pregnant women and their neonates were recruited, and the samples were collected from the maternal oral cavity, amniotic fluid, placenta and neonatal oral cavity. High-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA was performed using the Illumina MiSeq platform to analyze the correlation with microbial community structure between the maternal and the neonatal oral cavity. The results indicated that the number of shared OTUs was up to 635 in four groups. The PCoA showed that there were certain similarities in the microbial community structure of the four groups. The dominant bacterial genera of the shared OTUs were consistent with human oral microbes, including Streptococcus, Fusobacterium and Prevotella. The results showed that there might be a correlation between the maternal and neonatal oral microbiome, through the amniotic fluid and placenta. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Complications of pregnancy are associated with adverse outcomes for mother and baby in the short and long term. The gut microbiome has been identified as a key factor for maintaining health outside of pregnancy and could contribute to pregnancy complications. In addition, the vaginal and the recently revealed placental microbiome are altered in pregnancy and may play a role in pregnancy complications. Probiotic supplementation could help to regulate the unbalanced microflora composition observed in obesity and diabetes. Here, the impact of probiotic supplementation during pregnancy and infancy is reviewed. There are indications for a protective role in preeclampsia, gestational diabetes mellitus, vaginal infections, maternal and infant weight gain and allergic diseases. Large, well-designed randomised controlled clinical trials along with metagenomic analysis are needed to establish the role of probiotics in adverse pregnancy and infancy outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]