Maternal obesity increases oxidative stress in the newborn

Abstract

Objective: Obesity before pregnancy is associated with a greater risk for the offspring to develop obesity and diabetes in childhood and adulthood. The aim of the present study was to determine the association between maternal overweight or obesity before pregnancy and newborn oxidative stress (OS). Methods: Seventy-two mother-child pairs were divided according to the pre-gestational body mass index (BMI) of the mothers as follows: eutrophic (n 5 21), overweight (n 5 32), and obese (n 5 19). Malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO) were measured in the plasma of a blood sample from the newborn's umbilical cord. Results: The MDA levels of newborns increased with maternal BMI (P 5 0.001), as did the levels of NO (P 5 0.019). There was a direct correlation between MDA and NO levels in each of the three groups (eutrophic: R 2 5 0.59, P < 0.001; overweight: R 2 5 0.45, P < 0.001; and obese: R 2 5 0.26, P 5 0.024). Conclusions: Maternal overweight and obesity before pregnancy are associated with increased OS in the offspring.

Mother’s Pre-pregnancy BMI and Placental Candidate miRNAs: Findings from the ENVIRONAGE Birth Cohort

“…Particularly, a maternal obesogenic environment has been associated with increased systolic blood pressure in offspring 5 , development of schizophrenia, elevated levels of cholesterol and triglycerides, impaired glucose tolerance, obesity and cardiovascular risk in childhood 2, 6 and in adulthood 7 . Induction of oxidative stress and chronic inflammation in newborns 8, 9 and children 10 has been linked to maternal obesity during pregnancy. There is increasing evidence that in utero exposures can influence birth outcomes via epigenetic mechanisms including microRNA (miRNA) expression 11 .…”

Impact of pregravid obesity on maternal and fetal immunity: Fertile grounds for reprogramming

“…81,82 In addition to these canonical inflammatory markers, maternal BMI is also a strong indicator of cord blood levels of malondialdehyde and NO, contributing to increased oxidative stress in the newborn. 83 In agreement with this hypothesis, transcriptional studies in cord blood have demonstrated elevated expression of genes involved in the cellular response to oxidative stress and inflammatory signaling with high maternal BMI, independent of offspring adiposity. 84 Gene expression studies in NHP models have extended these findings and reported altered expression of several markers of vascular inflammation and altered endothelial cell function in offspring of dams with high pregravid BMI.…”

“…Very high maternal BMI (>35) has been associated with elevated systemic levels of inflammatory mediators, notably TNFα and C‐reactive protein (CRP) in the cord plasma . In addition to these canonical inflammatory markers, maternal BMI is also a strong indicator of cord blood levels of malondialdehyde and NO, contributing to increased oxidative stress in the newborn . In agreement with this hypothesis, transcriptional studies in cord blood have demonstrated elevated expression of genes involved in the cellular response to oxidative stress and inflammatory signaling with high maternal BMI, independent of offspring adiposity .…”

Modeling dietary influences on offspring metabolic programming in Drosophila melanogaster

“…Additional studies have also demonstrated strong correlations between the malnourished parent and compromised offspring health (Painter et al ; Stanner et al , 1997; Ravelli et al , 1998; Kaati et al , 2002; Pembrey et al , 2006). Substantial evidence from both human and animal models has implicated several factors including altered epigenetic gene regulation, ER stress, and mitochondrial disruption as vehicles through which parental diet impacts offspring development and health (Gemma et al , 2006, 2009; Bruce et al , 2009; Ng et al , 2010; Vucetic et al , 2010; Wu et al , 2010, 2015; Carone et al , 2010; Igosheva et al , 2010; Borengasser et al , 2011; Luzzo et al , 2012; Soubry et al , 2013; Herbstman et al , 2013; Malti et al , 2014; Melo et al , 2014; Radford et al , 2014; Sharp et al , 2015; Casas-Agustench et al , 2015; Gallardo et al , 2015). However, to date, the molecular mechanisms by which altered nutrition influences these factors to impact offspring health are not entirely clear.…”