# Mommyomics and Babyomics - Effect of Gestational Diabetes on the Developing Infant Microbiome

> **NIH NIH F30** · OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $44,152

## Abstract

Project Summary
Maternal health is emerging as a critical long-term determinant of a child’s health. Therefore, promoting the
health of women, especially pregnant women, promotes the well-being of children. The prevalence of gestational
diabetes mellitus (GDM) has been steadily increasing, with current estimates at 13%. GDM is associated with
adverse outcomes for both the mother and child. For example, there is an increased risk of pre-eclampsia and
cesarean section for the mother and hypoglycemia, mental retardation, and birth trauma for the child. GDM has
also been associated with an increased risk of future adolescent obesity for the child. Additionally, it has been
found that GDM alters the maternal microbiomes, although the extent to which it impacts each ecological niche
remains contested. Therefore, it is important to study the impact of GDM on the maternal microbiome to fully
understand the impact of GDM at the metagenomic level. Furthermore, because there is intergenerational
transfer of microbiomes and the microbiome is an important health determinant, studying the impact of GDM on
the acquisition and development of the infant microbiome is critical to understanding risk for oral diseases.
In the present proposal, it is hypothesized that the establishment of a stable, personalized infant oral microbiome
is significantly influenced by maternal GDM and that the effects of GDM outweigh simple vertical transmission
of the microbiome due to shared genetics between mothers and infants. This will be achieved by combining two
independent yet integrated study designs with whole genome shotgun sequencing and strain-resolved
comparative metagenomics. Both cross sectional and longitudinal study designs will be used to determine
whether GDM impacts the oral microbiome, to determine the impact of maternal GDM on the developing infant
oral microbiome, and to determine the relative attributions of vertical transmission and GDM to the developing
infant oral microbiome.
This will reveal the complexity and function of the microbiome at the gene level, stability over time and in
response to perturbations, and to what extent the oral microbiome is a heritable feature, similar to the human
genome. These findings will have major implications for disease and health including possible determinants of
disease susceptibility, risk assessment and feasibility of strategies for prebiotics.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10312711
- **Project number:** 5F30DE029676-02
- **Recipient organization:** OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Kazune Catherine Pax
- **Activity code:** F30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $44,152
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-02-01 → 2024-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10312711

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10312711, Mommyomics and Babyomics - Effect of Gestational Diabetes on the Developing Infant Microbiome (5F30DE029676-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10312711. Licensed CC0.

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