Journal
FASEB JOURNAL
Volume 35, Issue 11, Pages -Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1096/fj.202101051R
Keywords
androgens; delayed effects of prenatal exposure; gastrointestinal microbiome; polycystic ovary syndrome
Categories
Funding
- Takeda Science Foundation
- Tokyo Society of Medical Science
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science [19k09749, 19k24045, 21k16808, 19k24021]
- Yakult Bio-Science Foundation
- Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research [19K09749, 19K24045, 19K24021, 21K16808] Funding Source: KAKEN
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It has been found that prenatal androgen exposure may cause gut microbial dysbiosis early in life, which is associated with the development of PCOS later on. Offspring with prenatal androgen exposure showed reproductive and metabolic phenotypic abnormalities, with differences in gut microbiome composition already apparent at 4 weeks of age.
It has been recently recognized that prenatal androgen exposure is involved in the development of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in adulthood. In addition, the gut microbiome in adult patients and rodents with PCOS differs from that of healthy individuals. Moreover, recent studies have suggested that the gut microbiome may play a causative role in the pathogenesis of PCOS. We wondered whether prenatal androgen exposure induces gut microbial dysbiosis early in life and is associated with the development of PCOS in later life. To test this hypothesis, we studied the development of PCOS-like phenotypes in prenatally androgenized (PNA) female mice and compared the gut microbiome of PNA and control offspring from 4 to 16 weeks of age. PNA offspring showed a reproductive phenotype from 6 weeks and a metabolic phenotype from 12 weeks of age. The alpha-diversity of the gut microbiome of the PNA group was higher at 8 weeks and lower at 12 and 16 weeks of age, and the beta-diversity differed from control at 8 weeks. However, a significant difference in the composition of gut microbiome between the PNA and control groups was already apparent at 4 weeks. Allobaculum and Roseburia were less abundant in PNA offspring, and may therefore be targets for future interventional studies. In conclusion, abnormalities in the gut microbiome appear as early as or even before PCOS-like phenotypes develop in PNA mice. Thus, the gut microbiome in early life is a potential target for the prevention of PCOS in later life.
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