Research progress on the association between gut microbiota and clinical metabolic phenotype among pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus

Human gut is home to a large number of microorganisms, and changes in the diversity and richness of the gut microbiota are directly linked to the occurrence and development of diabetes. Disorders of the gut microbiota are common in pregnant women who have impaired glucose metabolism. Improving the intestinal microecology of pregnant women by controlling the pertinent “characteristic strains” and “microflora composition structure” is a feasible strategy to optimize clinical intervention programs through strengthening pregnancy management. There are several different clinical metabolic phenotypes of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), and they are frequently accompanied by other metabolic disorders (such as obesity and hyperlipidemia). It is challenging to properly understand the underlying mechanism of intestine microecological abnormalities from a single exposure factor analysis (hyperglycemia during pregnancy). In this article, recent researches on the association between metabolic phenotypic anomalies and gut microbiota characteristics among pregnant women with GDM were reviewed, with the goal of providing new evidence for the exploration of GDM intervention strategies.