About the Study
The MECONIUM Study aims to compare the bacterial profiles of pregnant women with and without Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and their newborn babies. The goal is to explore the role of genetic make-up, disease activity throughout pregnancy, medications and clinical features on the bacterial composition of the baby. In addition, we will assess if feeding behavior (breastfeeding versus formula) and/or antibiotic use early in life help modify the microbiome. Given that the maternal gut bacteria can be manipulated by diet, food supplementation, and other ways, our study can help identify the types of bacteria that need to be altered prior to or during pregnancy to significantly reduce the risk of IBD transmission.
We Are Currently Enrolling women who have participated in the MECONIUM Study with a prior pregnancy and wish to reenroll.
Questions? Please contact our research coordinators at 347-620-0210 or meconiumstudy@gmail.com
If you are a current participant, you can find more information here!
Have any similar studies been performed?
Please visit these Interesting Links to learn about similar studies that have been performed.
How can I learn more about the microbiome?
You can read more about the Background data supporting the MECONIUM Study to learn more about the microbiome.
We hope you take some time to meet the MECONIUM Study team and take a look at the milestones that we have crossed thus far on this journey!
News
Select from the following links to see what we have been up to!
- Presentations and other updates
- See how our team has evolved over the years
- Read through our yearly newsletter archive
Publications
Peer-reviewed Publications:
Leonid Tarassishin, Taegyu Kim, Jianzhong Hu, Amelie Barre, Alexa Rendon, Mellissa Picker, Rosemary Chen, Kaitlyn Weinstein, Anne Thjømøe, Einar Mørk, Joanne Stone, Joana Torres, Jean-Frederic Colombel, Manasi Agrawal, Inga Peter. (2025) Elevated fecal lipocalin-2 levels during early life are associated with maternal inflammatory bowel disease diagnosis and infant feeding practices. Digestive Diseases and Sciences. Volume 70, pages 1150-1159 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10620-025-08864-9
Vishal Midya, Manasi Agrawal, Jamil M. Lane, Chris Gennings, Leonid Tarassishin, Libni A. Torres-Olascoaga, Joseph Eggers, Jill K. Gregory, Mellissa Picker, Inga Peter, Jeremiah J. Faith, Manish Arora, Martha M. Téllez-Rojo, Robert O. Wright, Jean-Frederic Colombel, and Shoshannah Eggers. (2024). Association between Exposure to Metals during Pregnancy, Childhood Gut Microbiome, and Risk of Intestinal Inflammation in Late Childhood. Environment and Health. Vol. 2, no. 10, 2024, p.739-749, https://doi.org/10.1021/envhealth.4c00125
Sabino, J., Tarassishin, L., Eisele, C., Hawkins, K., Barré, A., Nair, N., Rendon, A., Debebe, A., Picker, M., Agrawal, M., Stone, J., George, J., Legnani, P., Maser, E., Chen, C. L., Thjømøe, A., Mørk, E., Dubinsky, M., Hu, J., Colombel, J. F., … Torres, J. (2023). Influence of Early Life Factors, including breast milk Composition, on the Microbiome of Infants Born to Mothers with and without Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Journal of Crohn’s & colitis, 17(11), 1723–1732. https://doi.org/10.1093/ecco-jcc/jjad096
Shah, S. C., Tarassishin, L., Eisele, C., Rendon, A., Debebe, A., Hawkins, K., Hillenbrand, C., Agrawal, M., Torres, J., Peek, R. M., Jr, Stone, J., Dubinsky, M., Colombel, J. F., Peter, I., & Hu, J. (2022). Breastfeeding Is Associated with Lower Likelihood of Helicobacter Pylori Colonization in Babies, Based on a Prospective USA Maternal-Infant Cohort. Digestive diseases and sciences, 67(11), 5149–5157. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10620-021-07371-x
Kim, E., Tarassishin L., Eisele, C., Barre, A., Nair, N., Rendon, A., Hawkins, K., Debebe, A., White, S., Thjømøe, A., Mørk, E., Bento-Miranda, M., Panchal, H., Agrawal, M., Patel, A., Chen, C., Kornbluth, A., George, J., Legnani, P., Maser, E., … Hu, J. (2021) Longitudinal Changes in Fecal Calprotectin Levels Among Pregnant Women with and without Inflammatory Bowel Disease and their Babies. Gastroenterology, 160(4), 1118-1130. https://doi.org/10.1053/j.gastro.2020.11.050.
Torres, J., Hu, J., Seki, A., Eisele, C., Nair, N., Huang, R., Tarassishin, L., Jharap, B., Cote-Daigneault, J., Mao, Q., Mogno, I., Britton, G. J., Uzzan, M., Chen, C. L., Kornbluth, A., George, J., Legnani, P., Maser, E., Loudon, H., Stone, J., … Peter, I. (2020). Infants born to mothers with IBD present with altered gut microbiome that transfers abnormalities of the adaptive immune system to germ-free mice. Gut, 69(1), 42–51. https://doi.org/10.1136/gutjnl-2018-317855
Abstracts:
Please click on the title for a link to the full publication.
Influence of early life factors on the development of intestinal microbiota of infants born to mothers with and without IBD
Joao Sabino, Leonid Tarassishin, Caroline Eisele, Amelie Barre, Marla Dubinsky, Joanne Stone, Nilendra Nair, Anketse Debebe, Kelly Hawkins, Alexa Rendon, Jianzhong Hu, Jean-Frederic Colombel, Inga Peter, Joana Torres
Leonid Tarassishin, Eun Soo Kim, Caroline Eisele, Amelie Barre, Anne Thjomoe, Einar Mork, Marla Dubinsky, Joanne Stone, Nilendra Nair, Anketse Debebe, Kelly Hawkins, Alexa Rendon, Joao Sabino, Joana Torres, Jean-Frederic Colombel, Inga Peter, Jianzhong Hu
Assessment of Metal Exposures in Deciduous Teeth of Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Nilendra Nair, Christine Austin, Manel Rocha, Catarina Gouveia, Paul Curtin, Caroline Eisele, Jean-Frederic Colombel, Joana Torres, Inga Peter, Manish Arora
The Gut Microbiota of Pregnant Women with Crohn’s Disease and their Babies Transfers Abnormalities of the Adaptive Immune System to Gnotobiotic Mice
Akihiro Seki, Joana Torres, Leonid Tarassishin, Jianzhong Hu, Caroline Eisele, Nilendra Nair, Graham Britton, Qixing Mao, Jose Clemente, Jeremiah Faith, Jean-Frederic Colombel, Inga Peter, Saurabh Mehandru
Dysbiotic Gut Microbiome of Infants Born to Mothers with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is Mitigated by Early Life Environmental Factors
Jianzhong Hu, Ruiqi Huang, Caroline Eisele, Leonid Tarassishin, Amelie Barre, Ron Porat, Nilendra Nair, Joanne Stone, Marla Dubinsky, Jean-Frederic Colombel, Joana Torres, Inga Peter
Fecal Calprotectin in Babies Born to Mothers with or without IBD and Correlation with Microbiome
Leonid Tarassishin, Amelie Barre, Caroline Eisele, Jianzhong Hu, Ron Porat, Nilendra Nair, Joanne Stone, Marla Dubinsky, Einar Mork, Anne Thjomoe, Jean-Frederic Colombel, Joana Torres, Inga Peter
Fecal Lactoferrin is a reliable IBD biomarker during pregnancy
Amelie Barre, Leonid Tarassishin, Caroline Eisele, Jianzhong Hu, Nilendra Nair, Joanne Stone, Marla Dubinsky, James Boone, Einar Mork, Anne Thjomoe, Jean-Frederic Colombel, Joana Torres, Inga Peter
Differences in the Microbial Composition in Cord Blood and Placenta by Maternal IBD Status
Jianzhong Hu, Joana Torres, Qixing Mao, Caroline Eisele, Leonid Tarassishin, Amelie Barre, Nilendra Nair, Jean-Frederic Colombel, Inga Peter
The pscyho-emotional experience of pregnancy in women with IBD and correlation with gut microbiome
Caroline Eisele, Ivan Carreon, Ruiqi Huang, Jianzhong Hu, Nilendra Nair, Ron Porat, Joana Torres, Jean-Frederic Colombel, Inga Peter, Laurie Keefer
Caroline Eisele, Jianzhong Hu, Joana Torres, Nilendra Nair, Hinaben Panchal, Xiuliang Bao, Xiaohong Niu, Justin Cote-Daigneault, Bindia Jharap, Elana Maser, Asher Kornbluth, Peter Legnani, James George, Marla Dubinsky, Joanne Stone, Ching-Lynn Chen, Jose Clemente, Jean-Frederic Colombel, Inga Peter
Joana Torres, Jianzhong Hu, Justin Cote-Daigneault, Hinaben Panchal, Caroline Eisele, Xuiliang Bao, Nikita Nangia, Ching-Lynn Chen, Marla Dubinsky, James George, Asher Kornbluth, Peter Legnani, James Marion, Elana Maser, Thomas Ullman, Bindia Jharap, Joanne Stone, Jose Clemente, Jean-Frederic Colombel, Inga Peter