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Updated: Jan 20, 2026
Isolation of Leukocytes from the Murine Tissues at the Maternal-Fetal Interface
Published on: May 21, 2015
Impact of pregravid obesity on maternal and fetal immunity: Fertile grounds for reprogramming
Suhas Sureshchandra1, Nicole E Marshall2, Ilhem Messaoudi1
1Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA.
Insights
Maternal obesity during pregnancy increases risks for both mother and child, impacting fetal immune development and long-term health. This review explores animal models and clinical data on these effects.
Area of Science:
- Reproductive immunology
- Developmental programming
- Maternal health
Background:
- Maternal pregravid obesity is linked to adverse pregnancy outcomes like gestational diabetes and preeclampsia.
- Obesity and high-fat diets in utero can negatively affect fetal development, leading to cardiometabolic, endocrine, and neurodevelopmental issues.
- Emerging research highlights maternal obesity's impact on offspring immunity and susceptibility to infectious diseases.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review animal models used to study maternal pregravid obesity's effects on fetal immunity.
- To synthesize data from clinical and animal studies on this topic.
- To examine the maternal-fetal interface, placental inflammation, and systemic inflammation.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of animal models studying maternal obesity and fetal immunity.
- Analysis of clinical and animal study data.
- Examination of the maternal-fetal interface and inflammatory pathways.
Main Results:
- Maternal obesity influences fetal immune programming.
- Placental inflammation is linked to systemic inflammation in the context of maternal obesity.
- Animal models provide insights into mechanisms linking maternal inflammation and fetal cellular reprogramming.
Conclusions:
- Maternal pregravid obesity has profound implications for offspring immunity and health.
- Understanding the maternal-fetal inflammatory axis is crucial.
- Further research is needed to elucidate mechanistic links for targeted interventions.
Abstract:
Maternal pregravid obesity results in several adverse health outcomes during pregnancy, including increased risk of gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, placental abruption, and complications at delivery. Additionally, pregravid obesity and in utero exposure to high fat diet have been shown to have detrimental effects on fetal programming, predisposing the offspring to adverse cardiometabolic, endocrine, and neurodevelopmental outcomes. More recently, a deeper appreciation for the modulation of offspring immunity and infectious disease-related outcomes by maternal pregravid obesity has emerged. This review will describe currently available animal models for studying the impact of maternal pregravid obesity on fetal immunity and review the data from clinical and animal model studies. We also examine the burden of pregravid obesity on the maternal-fetal interface and the link between placental and systemic inflammation. Finally, we discuss future studies needed to identify key mechanistic underpinnings that link maternal inflammatory changes and fetal cellular reprogramming events.
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