Human placenta has no microbiome but can contain potential pathogens
Open accessAbstract
We sought to determine whether pre-eclampsia, spontaneous preterm birth or the delivery of infants who are small for gestational age were associated with the presence of bacterial DNA in the human placenta. Here we show that there was no evidence for the presence of bacteria in the large majority of placental samples, from both complicated and uncomplicated pregnancies. Almost all signals were related either to the acquisition of bacteria during labour and delivery, or to contamination of laboratory reagents with bacterial DNA. The exception was Streptococcus agalactiae (group B Streptococcus), for which non-contaminant signals were detected in approximately 5% of samples collected before the onset of labour. We conclude that bacterial infection of the placenta is not a common cause of adverse pregnancy outcome and that the human placenta does not have a microbiome, but it does represent a potential site of perinatal acquisition of S. agalactiae, a major cause of neonatal sepsis.
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The notion of existence of a placental microbiome and its link to reproductive health was recently challenged by comparison using different kits, blank controls and complementary microbial detection approaches.
“the notion of the existence of a placental microbiome and its link to reproductive health was recently challenged by a thorough comparison of results using different kits, blank controls and complementary approaches of microbial detection not exclusively relying on sequencing.252,253”
From Interaction between microbiota and immunity in health and disease (2020) · cites this paper as [252]
Studies using germ-free mice confirmed the role of the gut microbiome in obesity, Kwashiorkor, and autism-spectrum disorder by inducing disease features in recipient animals following transfer of a patient-associated microbiome.
“Seminal studies using germ‐free mice confirmed the role of the gut microbiome in a number of diseases, including obesity,47 Kwashiorkor,48 and autism‐spectrum disorder,49 by inducing disease features in recipient animals following transfer of a patient‐associated microbiome.”
From The oral microbiome: Role of key organisms and complex networks in oral health and disease (2021) · cites this paper as [49]
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- Authors
- de Goffau, M. C., Lager, S., Sovio, U., Gaccioli, F., Cook, E., Peacock, S. J., Parkhill, J., Charnock-Jones, D. S., & Smith, G. C. S.
- Affiliations
- Uppsala University (SE)
- University of Cambridge (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Parkhill, Julian
- Smith, Gordon C. S.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Nature
- Published
- 2019-07-31
- Volume
- 572
- Issue
- 7769
- Pages
- 329-334
- ISSN
- 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-4687
- PMC
- PMC6697540
- OpenAlex
- W2966854986
- Cited by
- 691
- References
- 39
- Citations by year
- 2026: 54 · 2025: 41 · 2024: 74 · 2023: 88 · 2022: 97 · 2021: 156 · 2020: 145 · 2019: 32 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 99.23
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Update notices
- correction (2019-10-01)
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Licence
- Locations
- Nature (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Apollo (University of Cambridge) (submittedVersion)
- Apollo
- Funders
- Cambridge University Hospitals (RG52380, 146281)
- Medical Research Council (MR/K021133/1)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Neonatal and Maternal Infections
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Preterm Birth and Chorioamnionitis
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Obstetrics and Gynecology › Pregnancy and preeclampsia studies
- Keywords
- placenta, placental microbiome, bacterial DNA, preeclampsia, preterm birth, small for gestational age, Streptococcus agalactiae, perinatal infection, neonatal sepsis, adverse pregnancy outcomes, laboratory contamination, placental infection
- MeSH terms
- Biopsy, DNA, Bacterial, Female, Humans, Infant, Newborn, Obstetric Labor Complications, Male, Placenta, Pregnancy, Pregnancy Complications, Infectious, Pregnancy Outcome, RNA, Ribosomal, 16S, Streptococcus agalactiae, Reproducibility of Results, Cohort Studies, Sequence Analysis, DNA, Sepsis, Delivery, Obstetric, Metagenomics, DNA Contamination
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