The Mother–Child Dyad Adipokine Pattern: A Review of Current Knowledge

Abstract

An important role in the network of interconnections between the mother and child is played by adipokines, which are adipose tissue hormones engaged in the regulation of metabolism. Alternations of maternal adipokines translate to the worsening of maternal insulin resistance as well as metabolic stress, altered placenta functions, and fetal development, which finally contribute to long-term metabolic unfavorable conditions. This paper is the first to summarize the current state of knowledge concerning the concentrations of individual adipokines in different biological fluids of maternal and cord plasma, newborn/infant plasma, milk, and the placenta, where it highlights the impact of adverse perinatal risk factors, including gestational diabetes mellitus, preeclampsia, intrauterine growth restriction, preterm delivery, and maternal obesity on the adipokine patterns in maternal–infant dyads. The importance of adipokine measurement and relationships in biological fluids during pregnancy and lactation is crucial for public health in the area of prevention of most diet-related metabolic diseases. The review highlights the huge knowledge gap in the field of hormones participating in the energy homeostasis and metabolic pathways during perinatal and postnatal periods in the mother–child dyad. An in-depth characterization is needed to confirm if the adverse outcomes of early developmental programming might be modulated via maternal lifestyle intervention.

Gestational Diabetes Mellitus and Colostral Appetite-Regulating Adipokines

“…The role of leptin, adiponectin, ghrelin, resistin, and IGF-I as appetite regulation molecules is well established, but there have been no general conclusions on their levels in human milk, especially in regard to the occurrence of maternal gestational diabetes [15,74]. The interpretation of the available results is hindered due to these gaps in knowledge, as well as lactation stage-related changes in milk, differences in geographic localization, varying sample collection time, and maternal health status (before and during pregnancy).…”

“…Adiponectin and leptin are among the adipokines most often analyzed in maternalinfant dyads [15]. Hypoadiponectinemia and hyperleptinemia are involved in aggravation of insulin resistance and promotion of obesity-related low-grade inflammation, and are important biomarkers of metabolic disorders [16,17].…”

“…During pregnancy, molecules such as adipokines modulate nutrient transport through the placenta, which directly translates into fetus development [41][42][43][44]. After delivery, adipokines are transferred with maternal milk and they are crucial for postnatal development [15,[44][45][46]. Milk leptin, adiponectin, ghrelin, resistin, and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) are appetite-regulating molecules involved in food intake regulation and energy balance in offspring [47][48][49][50][51].…”

“…Currently, it is believed that the net result of altered adipokine levels in mothers may translate to the offspring's development [15,49,51,62,66,74,75]. It was reported that appetite and satiety regulation are profoundly complex and involve the endocrine and the central nervous system [76,77].…”