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Title: Differences in brain functional connectivity at resting state in neonates born to healthy obese or normal-weight mothers

Author
item OU, XIAWEI - Arkansas Children'S Nutrition Research Center (ACNC)
item LI, XUEHUA - University Arkansas For Medical Sciences (UAMS)
item ZHANG, YILU - University Arkansas For Medical Sciences (UAMS)
item ANDRES, ALIENE - Arkansas Children'S Nutrition Research Center (ACNC)
item PIVIK, R - Arkansas Children'S Nutrition Research Center (ACNC)
item GLASIER, CHARLES - Arkansas Children'S Hospital
item RAMAKRISHNAIAH, RAGHU - Arkansas Children'S Hospital
item BADGER, THOMAS - Arkansas Children'S Nutrition Research Center (ACNC)
item SHANKAR, KARTIK - Arkansas Children'S Nutrition Research Center (ACNC)

Submitted to: International Journal of Obesity
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/30/2016
Publication Date: 11/16/2016
Citation: Ou, X., Li, X., Zhang, Y., Andres, A., Pivik, R.T., Glasier, C., Ramakrishnaiah, R., Badger, T., Shankar, K. 2016. Differences in brain functional connectivity at resting state in neonates born to healthy obese or normal-weight mothers. International Journal of Obesity. doi:10.1038/ijo.2016.166.

Interpretive Summary: New studies have shown associations between maternal obesity at pre- or early pregnancy and long term neurodevelopment in children. It is speculated that neuroprogramming differs in offspring of obese and normal weight women. In this study, we evaluated and compared the resting-state functional connectivity (when the brain is not focusing on any particular task and is at-rest, the blood oxygenation in certain regions in the brain are correlated although these regions are not anatomically connected. Usually these regions do control the same brain function, for example, language, or motor, or visual. This relationship between different brain regions is called resting-state functional connectivity) in 2-week-old infants born to healthy obese and normal weight mothers, and we observed significant changes in brain connectivity associated with maternal obesity. Our results indicate that maternal obesity may influence brain function of offspring newborns.

Technical Abstract: Recent studies have shown associations between maternal obesity at pre- or early pregnancy and long-term neurodevelopment in children, suggesting in utero effects of maternal obesity on offspring brain development. In this study, we examined whether brain functional connectivity to the prefrontal lobe network is different in newborns from normal-weight or obese mothers. Thirty-four full-term healthy infants from uncomplicated pregnancies were included, with 18 born to normal-weight and 16 born to obese mothers. Two weeks after delivery, the infants underwent an MRI examination during natural sleep which included structural imaging and resting-state fMRI scans. Independent component analysis (ICA) was used to identify the prefrontal lobe network, and dual regression was used to compare functional connectivity between groups. Infants born to normal-weight mothers had higher recruiting (P<0.05, corrected) of dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) regions to the prefrontal network after adjusting for maternal IQ, gestational weight gain, and infant postmenstrual age, gender, birth weight/length, head circumference, and neonatal diet. The functional connectivity strength in dACC negatively correlated (P<0.05) with maternal fat mass percentage measured at early pregnancy. This preliminary study indicates that exposure to maternal obesity in utero may be associated with changes in resting-state functional connectivity in the newborn offspring's brain.