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Protective maternal gut instincts

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During pregnancy, nearly all organs adapt to promote the growth of the developing fetus. This includes elongation of the gut and expansion of the finger-like protrusions that line the small intestine, which enables increased nutrient absorption and helps pregnant individuals to obtain the calories they need1,2. Writing in Nature, Huang et al.3 describe an interesting twist to these pregnancy-induced intestinal changes. The authors based their investigation on the premise that a baby’s well-being goes hand-in-hand with good health of their mother.

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-01322-0

References Onji, M. et al. Nature 637, 156–166 (2025). Ameku, T. et al. Cell 188, 2738–2756 (2025). Huang, C. et al. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10531-6 (2026). Paolino, M. et al. Nature 589, 442–447 (2021). Piccinni, M.-P. et al. Clin. Mol. Allergy 14, 11 (2016). Kinder, J. M., Stelzer, I. A., Arck, P. C. & Way, S. S. Nature Rev. Immunol. 17, 483–494 (2017). Gurtner, A., Gonzalez-Perez, I. & Arnold, I. C. Semin. Immunopathol. 43, 295–306 (2021). Boushra, M., Carlson, K. & Rahman, O. Postpartum Infection (StatPearls, 2025). Zeng, M. Y. et al. Immunity 44, 647–658 (2016). Shao, T.-Y., Haslam, D. B., Bennett, R. J. & Way, S. S. Trends Immunol. 43, 706–717 (2022). Diep, R. E. et al. Nature 653, 519–527 (2026). Zheng, W. et al. Nature 577, 543–548 (2020). Download references

Competing Interests The authors declare no competing interests.

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