Maternal Obesity and Cardiac Development in the Offspring: Study in Human Neonates and Minipigs
Maria Angela Guzzardi1, Tiziana Liistro1, Luna Gargani1
1Institute of Clinical Physiology, National Research Council, Pisa, Italy.
Insights
Maternal overweight during pregnancy significantly impacts offspring’s cardiac development, leading to thicker heart walls in infants and altered heart function in adult minipigs. These changes are linked to metabolic disturbances and suggest long-term cardiovascular risks.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular research
- Developmental biology
- Maternal-fetal medicine
Background:
- The increasing prevalence of maternal overweight poses risks to fetal organ development.
- Offspring of obese mothers exhibit elevated rates of cardiovascular disease and mortality.
- The intrauterine environment plays a crucial role in modulating offspring's susceptibility to diseases.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the short-term and long-term consequences of maternal overweight on cardiac development in offspring.
- To examine cardiac morphology and function in infants and minipigs exposed to maternal overweight or high-fat diet during gestation.
Main Methods:
- Infant echocardiography was performed at multiple time points from birth to 1 year.
- Minipigs underwent comprehensive cardiac assessments including echocardiography, histology, positron emission tomography, and mass spectrometry from birth to adulthood.
- Maternal diets (high-fat vs. normal) were controlled in the minipig model.
Main Results:
- Maternal overweight in late pregnancy correlated with increased left ventricular posterior wall thickness in neonates and larger cardiac volumes at 1 year.
- Minipigs born to mothers on a high-fat diet exhibited increased cardiac mass, chamber size, stroke volume, and glucose uptake at birth.
- Longer-term, these minipigs developed myocardial insulin resistance, glycogen depletion, and altered fatty acid metabolism, with elevated heart rate and ejection fraction in adulthood.
Conclusions:
- Late-trimester maternal body mass index is a key factor in neonatal cardiac morphological changes.
- Myocardial glucose overexposure in offspring of overweight mothers may explain early human findings.
- Maternal overweight leads to long-term cardiac issues including insulin resistance, metabolic alterations, and hyperdynamic systolic function in offspring.
Objectives:
The aim of this study was to investigate the consequences of maternal overweight on cardiac development in offspring in infants (short term) and minipigs (short and longer term).
Background:
The epidemic of overweight involves pregnant women. The uterine environment affects organ development, modulating disease susceptibility. Offspring of obese mothers have higher rates of cardiovascular events and mortality.
Methods:
Echocardiography was performed in infants born to lean and overweight mothers at birth and at 3, 6, and 12 months of age. In minipigs born to mothers fed a high-fat diet or a normal diet, cardiac development (echocardiography, histology), glucose metabolism and perfusion (positron emission tomography), triglyceride and glycogen content, and myocardial enzymes regulating metabolism (mass spectrometry) were determined from birth to adulthood.
Results:
In neonates, maternal overweight, especially in the last trimester, predicted a thicker left ventricular posterior wall at birth (4.1 ± 0.3 vs. 3.3 ± 0.2 mm; p < 0.05) and larger end-diastolic and stroke volumes at 1 year. Minipigs born to mothers fed a high-fat diet showed greater left ventricular mass (p = 0.0001), chambers (+100%; p < 0.001), stroke volume (+75%; p = 0.001), cardiomyocyte nuclei (+28%; p = 0.02), glucose uptake, and glycogen accumulation at birth (+100%; p < 0.005), with lower levels of oxidative enzymes, compared with those born to mothers fed a normal diet. Subsequently, they developed myocardial insulin resistance and glycogen depletion. Late adulthood showed elevated heart rate (111 ± 5 vs. 84 ± 8 beats/min; p < 0.05) and ejection fraction and deficient fatty acid oxidative enzymes.
Conclusions:
Neonatal changes in cardiac morphology were explained by late-trimester maternal body mass index; myocardial glucose overexposure seen in minipigs can justify early human findings. Longer term effects in minipigs consisted of myocardial insulin resistance, enzymatic alterations, and hyperdynamic systolic function.
More Related Videos
10:55A Piglet Perinatal Asphyxia Model to Study Cardiac Injury and Hemodynamics after Cardiac Arrest, Resuscitation, and the Return of Spontaneous Circulation
Published on: January 13, 2023
05:17Author Spotlight: Enhancing the Offspring Health in Rats with Maternal Exercise During Pregnancy
Published on: April 5, 2024