University of Lethbridge Theses

Permanent URI for this collection

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1

Applications of fecal metabolomics for the study of stress and pregnancy
(Lethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Dept. of Neuroscience, 2020) Scott, Hannah Doris; University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science; Metz, Gerlinde A. S.
The gut microbiota plays a substantial role in determining the health and behaviour of an individual. The study of this interaction requires tools with a broad, unbiased scope that can analyse both microbial and host activity; fecal metabolomics, the analysis of small-molecule metabolites, is one such method. This thesis will explore several considerations and applications of fecal metabolomics. First, a study comparing methods of sample preparation for fecal metabolomics displays the efficacy of in silico baseline correction combined with a Bligh-Dyer extraction technique. Next, the use of fecal metabolomics and 16S rRNA gene sequencing reveal no effect of prenatal stress on the postpartum maternal gut microbiota. Finally, the clinical applications of metabolomics is presented in a study displaying distinctions between the prenatal urinary metabolomes of obesity and gestational diabetes mellitus, identifying biomarkers of risk. These studies highlight the potential of fecal metabolomics in both research and clinical settings.