PM2.5 Exposure, Gut Microbiome, and Gestational Diabetes in a Chinese Pregnancy Cohort

A 2026 study of 1,248 pregnant women from the PMDAPO cohort in Guangzhou, China, investigating longitudinal associations between PM2.5 air pollution exposure and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). The dataset, authored by Shanshan Mei and shared via figshare, includes demographic information, gut microbiota profiles from 16S rRNA sequencing, blood metabolites, and circular RNA (circRNA) measurements to explore mediating biological mechanisms.

Use Cases

• Modeling the association between PM2.5 exposure and gestational diabetes risk based on cohort data.
• Investigating the mediating role of specific gut microbiota genera (e.g., Solobacterium, Fusicatenibacter) on blood glucose levels.
• Analyzing interaction networks between gut microbiota, blood metabolites (e.g., sphingolipids), and circRNAs in disease pathways.
• Exploring biological mechanisms like glycerophospholipid and sphingolipid metabolism in relation to environmental triggers.

Strengths

• Data from a prospective cohort of 1,248 participants provides a substantial sample size for analysis.
• Integrates multi-modal data types: environmental exposure (PM2.5), microbiome (16S rRNA), metabolomics, and molecular biology (circRNAs).
• Explicitly licensed under CC-BY-4.0 for open reuse and redistribution.

Limitations

• Lifestyle factors (diet, physical activity) and residential mobility were not measured, which may contribute to residual confounding.
• Gut microbiota was assessed at a single time point in mid-pregnancy, limiting longitudinal analysis of microbiome changes.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download from the DOCX file.

Provenance

Source

Shanshan Mei, via figshare.

Collection Method

Data collected from the Pregnancy Metabolic Disease and Adverse Pregnancy Outcome (PMDAPO) cohort; PM2.5 levels from nearest monitoring station, microbiome via 16S rRNA sequencing, metabolites via non-targeted metabolomics, circRNAs via RT-qPCR.

Time Range

Study period not explicitly stated, but data reflects a prospective pregnancy cohort.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-18 07:44:10.

Geography

Guangzhou, China.