Lipid pathways connecting maternal BMI with infant obesity risk

Area of Science:

• Perinatal epidemiology
• Metabolomics
• Pediatric health

Background:

• Maternal obesity is a significant risk factor for infant obesity.
• Lipids, especially ether lipids, play a role in intergenerational metabolic programming.
• Human milk lipids are crucial for infant development and metabolic health.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index (pp-BMI) and lipidomic profiles in mothers, human milk, and infants.
• To explore the role of ether lipids (plasmalogens) in mediating the effects of maternal obesity on early life growth and obesity risk.
• To identify potential lipid biomarkers for metabolic programming and obesity prevention.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the Barwon Infant Study.
• Employed linear regression to analyze associations between maternal pp-BMI, lipid profiles (maternal, cord, milk, infant), and infant BMI.
• Developed a composite plasmalogen score to assess ether lipid metabolism.
• Conducted mediation analysis to evaluate the role of cord lipids in the pp-BMI to birth weight relationship.

Main Results:

• Maternal pp-BMI was significantly associated with maternal and cord blood lipid profiles.
• Six cord blood lipids mediated up to 18% of the effect of maternal pp-BMI on birth weight.
• Maternal and infant plasmalogen scores were inversely associated with maternal pp-BMI and positively associated with each other over time.
• Higher infant plasmalogen score at six months was linked to lower BMI z-score at four years.

Conclusions:

• Ether lipids, particularly plasmalogens, may serve as modifiable biomarkers linking maternal obesity to infant metabolic outcomes.
• Plasmalogen metabolism could be a key pathway in early-life metabolic programming.
• Targeting ether lipid metabolism presents a potential strategy for interventions aimed at reducing early-life obesity risk.