The stool microbiota of insulin resistant women with recent gestational diabetes, a high risk group for type 2 diabetes

The gut microbiota has been linked to metabolic diseases. However, information on the microbiome of young adults at risk for type 2 diabetes (T2D) is lacking. The aim of this cross-sectional analysis was to investigate whether insulin resistant women with previous gestational diabetes (pGDM), a high risk group for T2D, differ in their stool microbiota from women after a normoglycemic pregnancy (controls). Bacterial communities were analyzed by high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing using fecal samples from 42 pGDM and 35 control subjects 3–16 months after delivery. Clinical characterization included a 5-point OGTT, anthropometrics, clinical chemistry markers and a food frequency questionnaire. Women with a Prevotellaceae-dominated intestinal microbiome were overrepresented in the pGDM group (p < 0.0001). Additionally, the relative abundance of the phylum Firmicutes was significantly lower in women pGDM (median 48.5 vs. 56.8%; p = 0.013). Taxa richness (alpha diversity) was similar between the two groups and with correction for multiple testing we observed no significant differences on lower taxonomic levels. These results suggest that distinctive features of the intestinal microbiota are already present in young adults at risk for T2D and that further investigations of a potential pathophysiological role of gut bacteria in early T2D development are warranted.