Los Angeles, Feb. 10 -- During pregnancy, a woman's immune system undergoes considerable changes, but experts still don't fully understand the underlying mechanisms. A recent study illustrates how gut bacteria may play a role.

According to a publication published in mSystems, changes in cytokine levels--immune system proteins involved in inflammation--during pregnancy may be connected to particular changes in the mother's gut microbiome as well as plasma and faecal metabolites.

"To the best of our knowledge, these associations were first explored in our study," said first author Ting Huang, MD, from the First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University in Guangzhou, China.

Pregnancy brings a raft of changes, including fluctuations in hormo...