An overview of the role of probiotics in pregnancy-associated pathologies with a special focus on preterm birth

DIBO, MARCOS; VENTIMIGLIA, MARÍA SILVIA; VALEFF, NATALIN; SERRADELL, MARÍA DE LOS ÁNGELES; JENSEN, FEDERICO

JOURNAL OF REPRODUCTIVE IMMUNOLOGY.

ELSEVIER IRELAND LTD

Año: 2022 vol. 150

0165-0378

Probiotics can modulate the host immune system and keep a healthy microbiota thus enhancing the integrity of the mucosal epithelium. They were proven to be useful as therapeutic strategies for a variety of inflammatory diseases. Preterm birth is a multicausal complication where the early inflammatory cascade activation affects both the mother and the fetus and may have an irreversibly impact on infant development. Prevention of preterm birth is a challenge that calls for different strategies targeting its diverse etiologies. For the past decade, novel and numerous studies investigated the role of probiotics for the prevention of preterm birth given their above-mentioned abilities. This allows a wider approach to the multifactorial causes of preterm birth. In this sense, probiotic administration was shown to be inversely related to the rate of preterm birth. In this review, we discuss the latest reports involving probiotics and preterm birth, and the chances ofprobiotics becoming a therapeutic strategy for the prevention of pregnancy-associated pathologies like preterm birth shortly.