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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Little Rock, Arkansas » Microbiome and Metabolism Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #332196
Title: Persistent influence of maternal obesity on offspring health: Mechanisms from animal models and clinical studies

Author
item WANKHADE, UMESH - Arkansas Children'S Nutrition Research Center (ACNC)
item THAKALI, KESHARI - Arkansas Children'S Nutrition Research Center (ACNC)
item SHANKAR, KARTIK - Arkansas Children'S Nutrition Research Center (ACNC)

Submitted to: Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/4/2016
Publication Date: 7/5/2016
Citation: Wankhade, U.D., Thakali, K.M., Shankar, K. 2016. Persistent influence of maternal obesity on offspring health: Mechanisms from animal models and clinical studies. Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology. doi: 10.1016/j.mce.2016.07.001.

Interpretive Summary: Increasing rates of adult and childhood obesity are occurring in both the United States and world-wide. While improper diet and lack of exercise contribute to the increasing incidence of obesity, there is also likely a genetic component to obesity that can be passed down from parents to children. The goal of this review article is to summarize the studies in humans and animal models that study how maternal obesity increases the risk of overweight and obesity. This review article summarizes several mechanisms that explain maternal obesity-associated programming and also summarizes clinical interventions that may reduce the negative effects of maternal obesity on offspring health and metabolism.

Technical Abstract: The consequences of excessive maternal weight and adiposity at conception for the offspring are now well recognized. Maternal obesity increases the risk of overweight and obesity even in children born with appropriate-for-gestational age (AGA) birth weights. Studies in animal models have employed both caloric excess and manipulation of macronutrients (especially high-fat) to mimic hypercaloric intake present in obesity. Findings from these studies show transmission of susceptibility to obesity, metabolic dysfunction, alterations in glucose homeostasis, hepatic steatosis, skeletal muscle metabolism and neuroendocrine changes in the offspring. This review summarizes the essential literature in this area in both experimental and clinical domains and focuses on the translatable aspects of these experimental studies. Moreover this review highlights emerging mechanisms broadly explaining maternal obesity-associated developmental programming. The roles of early developmental alterations and placental adaptations are also reviewed. Increasing evidence also points to changes in the epigenome and other emerging mechanisms such as alterations in the microbiome that may contribute to persistent changes in the offspring. Finally, we examine potential interventions that have been employed in clinical cohorts.