Prebiotic supplementation during pregnancy helps to create a tolerogenic environment in utero

The mother's diet during pregnancy influences the intestinal microbiota, leading to the production of specific metabolites that are transferred to the foetus and affect the development and maturation of the immune system.

Prebiotics are fibres present in the diet that encourage the emergence of bacteria that are good for health and the synthesis of metabolites that can induce the proliferation of immune cells that are tolerogenic and therefore confer health benefits. We hypothesised that nutritional supplementation with prebiotics during pregnancy could modify the maternal microbiota, helping to establish a healthy immune imprint in the foetus.

We have demonstrated in mice that prebiotic supplementation during gestation increases the abundance of healthy intestinal bacteria, leading to an increase in the production of metabolites such as acetate in the faeces, acetate found for the first time in amniotic fluid.
Prebiotic supplementation increases the frequency of B and T lymphocyte immunoregulatory cells in gestational tissues and in the foetus. These regulatory cells are then found in the mouse.

In conclusion, prebiotic supplementation during pregnancy allows the transmission of specific microbial and immune factors from mother to child, enabling the establishment of a tolerogenic immune imprint in the foetus, which could protect the child from the onset of future diseases such as food allergy.