Effect of oral gavage of Fusobacterium nucleatum on the development of the placenta in mice

Placental Fusobacterium nucleatum localization may be associated with pregnancy complications, including preeclampsia (PE), but nothing is known about its specific pathobiology. We aimed to perform transcriptomic analysis of the placentas of mice that were orally gavaged with Fusobacterium nucleatum or saline during pregnancy to further elucidate placental dysfunction in these conditions. Overall design: For F. nucleatum-induced PE model, female mice were first gavaged with antibiotics combination (vancomycin, 100 mg/kg; neomycin sulfate, metronidazole and ampicillin, 200 mg/kg) for five consecutive days to remove gut microbiota, and then gavaged with 10^8 colony forming unit (CFU) of F. nucleatum every day for one-week, followed by mating. Next, pregnant mice received everyday gavage of F. nucleatum (10^8 CFU) until GD17.5. PBS was used as blank control.