Journal
NUTRITION RESEARCH REVIEWS
Volume 33, Issue 2, Pages 244-259Publisher
CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1017/S0954422420000037
Keywords
Adipose tissue; Fetal programming; Developmental origins of health and disease; Maternal obesity
Categories
Funding
- Direccion de Apoyo a la Investigacion y al Posgrado, Universidad de Guanajuato [056/2019]
- Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (CONACYT) [219787]
- Fondos Federales [074/2013]
- Direccion General de Asuntos del Personal Academico [PAPIIT: IN 206617]
- CONACYT [CVU/Becario: 383325/255765, Becario: 27664, Becario: 295457]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Worldwide obesity is increasing at an alarming rate in children and adolescents, with the consequent emergence of co-morbidities. Moreover, the maternal environment during pregnancy plays an important role in obesity, contributing to transgenerational transmission of the same and metabolic dysfunction. White adipose tissue represents a prime target of metabolic programming induced by maternal milieu. In this article, we review adipose tissue physiology and development, as well as maternal influences during the perinatal period that may lead to obesity in early postnatal life and adulthood. First, we describe the adipose tissue cell composition, distribution and hormonal action, together with the evidence of hormonal factors participating in fetal/postnatal programming. Subsequently, we describe the critical periods of adipose tissue development and the relationship of gestational and early postnatal life with healthy fetal adipose tissue expansion. Furthermore, we discuss the evidence showing that adipose tissue is an important target for nutritional, hormonal and epigenetic signals to modulate fetal growth. Finally, we describe nutritional, hormonal, epigenetic and microbiome changes observed in maternal obesity, and whether their disruption alters fetal growth and adiposity. The presented evidence supports the developmental origins of health and disease concept, which proposes that the homeostatic system is affected during gestational and postnatal development, impeding the ability to regulate body weight after birth, thereby resulting in adult obesity. Consequently, we anticipate that promoting a healthy early-life programming of adipose tissue and increasing the knowledge of the mechanisms by which maternal factors affect the health of future generations may offer novel strategies for explaining and addressing worldwide health problems such as obesity.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available