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Phillips, Sarah, Watt, Rachel, Atkinson, Thomas, Savva, George M., Hayhoe, Antonietta and Hall, Lindsay J. 
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8938-5709
and
PEARL study team
(2021)
The Pregnancy and EARly Life study (PEARL) - A longitudinal study to understand how gut microbes contribute to maintaining health during pregnancy and early life.
BMC Pediatrics, 21.
ISSN 1471-2431
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Abstract
Background: The early life period represents the first step in establishing a beneficial microbial ecosystem, which in turn affects both short and longer-term health. Changes during pregnancy influence the neonatal microbiome; through transmission of maternal microbes during childbirth, and beyond, through nutritional programming. However, in-depth exploration of longitudinal maternal-infant cohorts, with sampling of multiple body sites, complemented by clinical and nutritional metadata, and use of cutting-edge experimental systems are limited. The PEARL study will increase our knowledge of; how microbes (including viruses/phages, bacteria, fungi and archaea) change in composition and functional capacity during pregnancy; transmission pathways from mother to infant; the impact of various factors on microbial communities across pregnancy and early life (e.g. diet), and how these microbes interact with other microbes and modulate host processes, including links to disease onset. Methods: PEARL is a longitudinal observational prospective study of 250 pregnant women and their newborns, with stool and blood samples, questionnaires and routine clinical data collected during pregnancy, labour, birth and up to 24 months post birth. Metagenomic sequencing of samples will be used to define microbiome profiles, and allow for genus, species and strain-level taxonomic identification and corresponding functional analysis. A subset of samples will be analysed for host (immune/metabolite) molecules to identify factors that alter the host gut environment. Culturing will be used to identify new strains of health-promoting bacteria, and potential pathogens. Various in vitro and in vivo experiments will probe underlying mechanisms governing microbe-microbe and microbe-host interactions. Discussion: Longitudinal studies, like PEARL, are critical if we are to define biomarkers, determine mechanisms underlying microbiome profiles in health and disease, and develop new diet- and microbe-based therapies to be tested in future studies and clinical trials. Trial registration: This study is registered in the ClinicalTrials.gov Database with ID: NCT03916874.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Additional Information: | Availability of data and materials: Data generated from the PEARL study will adhere to the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) Data Sharing Policy. Anonymised datasets will be kept indefinitely and available to other researchers. Access to such data should be requested through the Chief Investigator, Professor Lindsay Hall. There will be no limitations to the dissemination of the results. It is anticipated that the results of this research project will be published and/or presented in a variety of forums, including peer reviewed journal publications, conference presentations, communications and media releases. In any publication and/or presentation, information will be provided in such a way that participants cannot be identified. Funding information: The study has been funded by BBSRC through an Institute Strategic Programme (ISP) award to the QIB Gut Health and Food Safety Programme (BB/R012490/1), and its constituent projects BBS/E/F/000PR10353 and BBS/E/F/000PR10356. The study is into the NIHR CRN Central Portfolio Management System (CPMS, add study number and speciality) portfolio which provides additional support in terms of hospital infrastructure and staff support. George Savva is funded through the BBSRC Core Capability Grant BB/CCG1860/1 at the Quadram Institute Bioscience. The Achiever Medical Laboratory Information Management System was procured using the BBSRC Capital Grant Award for the enhancement of the NRP Biorepository. The primary sponsor of the project is the Quadram Institute Bioscience, responsible for: study design; data collection, management, analysis and interpretation; and writing of reports for publication. The funding bodies played no role in study protocol development, ethics, or have any involvement in ongoing activities. |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | early-life,gut health,health,microbiome,pregnancy,pediatrics, perinatology, and child health ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2700/2735 |
| Faculty \ School: | Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > School of Health Sciences Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Norwich Medical School |
| UEA Research Groups: | Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Norwich Epidemiology Centre Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Norwich Epidemiology Centre |
| Related URLs: | |
| Depositing User: | LivePure Connector |
| Date Deposited: | 13 Aug 2021 00:18 |
| Last Modified: | 16 Dec 2024 01:35 |
| URI: | https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/81069 |
| DOI: | 10.1186/s12887-021-02835-5 |
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