Research progress on the effects of adverse exposure during pregnancy on skeletal muscle function in the offspring

Area of Science:

• Developmental biology
• Maternal-fetal medicine
• Skeletal muscle physiology

Background:

• Skeletal muscle is vital for metabolism, energy, movement, and endocrine function.
• Gestation is a critical period for fetal skeletal muscle development (myogenesis).
• Adverse maternal exposures during pregnancy can impact offspring skeletal muscle health.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review research on adverse maternal exposures during pregnancy and their effects on offspring skeletal muscle function.
• To explore the underlying mechanisms of these effects.
• To provide evidence for preventing and treating skeletal muscle birth defects.

Main Methods:

• Review of clinical and animal studies.
• Analysis of maternal exposures like obesity, poor diet, nutritional deficiencies, gestational diabetes, and endocrine disruptors.
• Examination of impacts on fetal skeletal muscle metabolism, inflammation, autophagy, epigenetics, and signaling pathways.

Main Results:

• Maternal obesity can lead to lipid deposition in offspring skeletal muscle.
• Poor maternal diet affects mitochondrial autophagy and skeletal muscle quality.
• Nutritional deficiencies can cause epigenetic changes impacting skeletal muscle development.
• Gestational diabetes may alter miR-15a/15b levels, affecting skeletal muscle function.
• Endocrine disruptors can impair skeletal muscle function via insulin signaling pathways.

Conclusions:

• Adverse maternal exposures during pregnancy significantly influence offspring skeletal muscle development and function.
• Mechanisms involve metabolic, inflammatory, epigenetic, and signaling pathway alterations.
• Evidence supports the need for strategies to mitigate adverse maternal exposures for improved skeletal muscle health in offspring.