Maternal Low-Grade Chronic Inflammation and Intrauterine Programming of Health and Disease
Francesca Parisi1,2, Roberta Milazzo1,2, Valeria M Savasi2,3
1Department of Woman, Mother and Neonate, 'V. Buzzi' Children Hospital, ASST Fatebenefratelli Sacco, 20141 Milan, Italy.
Insights
Maternal obesity and inflammation during pregnancy can negatively impact offspring
Area of Science:
- Reproductive biology
- Developmental programming
- Metabolic health
Background:
- Maternal overweight and obesity are linked to adverse offspring outcomes, including higher birth weight and later-life metabolic diseases.
- Chronic low-grade inflammation associated with obesity may extend to the placenta, disrupting intrauterine development.
- The precise mechanisms of intrauterine developmental programming by maternal factors require further elucidation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of maternal inflammation in intrauterine developmental programming and its impact on offspring metabolic health.
- To explore the potential of inflammation as a key mediator in the transgenerational perpetuation of metabolic derangements.
Main Methods:
- Utilized animal models to mimic maternal inflammation using lipopolysaccharide (LPS) injections, simulating obesity-induced immune profiles.
- Assessed offspring for adiposity and metabolic homeostasis parameters.
- Considered the transferability of cytokines from maternal to fetal circulation and their role in placental function.
Main Results:
- Maternal inflammation mimicked the adverse metabolic and adiposity phenotypes observed in offspring of obese mothers.
- Cytokines were identified as potential mediators of metabolic imprinting due to their transfer across the placenta.
- Maternal inflammation can induce metabolic reprogramming from the periconceptional period through embryonic and placental development.
Conclusions:
- Maternal inflammation, akin to obesity, significantly impacts offspring metabolic programming.
- Cytokines play a crucial role in mediating these effects via placental nutrient transfer.
- Further research into inflammation's impact on pregnancy outcomes and preventive strategies is warranted.
Abstract:
Overweight and obesity during pregnancy have been associated with increased birth weight, childhood obesity, and noncommunicable diseases in the offspring, leading to a vicious transgenerational perpetuating of metabolic derangements. Key components in intrauterine developmental programming still remain to be identified. Obesity involves chronic low-grade systemic inflammation that, in addition to physiological adaptations to pregnancy, may potentially expand to the placental interface and lead to intrauterine derangements with a threshold effect. Animal models, where maternal inflammation is mimicked by single injections with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) resembling the obesity-induced immune profile, showed increased adiposity and impaired metabolic homeostasis in the offspring, similar to the phenotype observed after exposure to maternal obesity. Cytokine levels might be specifically important for the metabolic imprinting, as cytokines are transferable from maternal to fetal circulation and have the capability to modulate placental nutrient transfer. Maternal inflammation may induce metabolic reprogramming at several levels, starting from the periconceptional period with effects on the oocyte going through early stages of embryonic and placental development. Given the potential to reduce inflammation through inexpensive, widely available therapies, examinations of the impact of chronic inflammation on reproductive and pregnancy outcomes, as well as preventive interventions, are now needed.
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