Developmentally programmed obesity: Is there a role for anti‐inflammatory nutritional strategies?

• Published in: Experimental physiology Vol. 109; no. 5; pp. 633 - 646
• Main Authors: Kearns, Michelle L., Reynolds, Clare M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.05.2024; John Wiley and Sons Inc; Wiley
• Subjects: Adipose tissue; Adipose Tissue - metabolism; Animals; anti‐inflammatory; Body fat; Body weight; Diabetes mellitus; early life; Female; Fetuses; Gestational diabetes; Humans; Inflammation; Inflammation - metabolism; Insulin resistance; Intervention; maternal diet; Maternal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena - physiology; Metabolic disorders; Metabolic syndrome; Nutrition; Nutritional Status; Obesity; Obesity - metabolism; Obesity - physiopathology; Offspring; Overweight; Pregnancy; Pregnancy complications; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; Quality of life; Review; Undernutrition; maternal diet; adipose tissue; anti‐inflammatory; obesity; early life
• ISSN: 0958-0670; 1469-445X; 1469-445X
• DOI: 10.1113/EP091209

Pregnancy represents a period of immense maternal physiological adaptation, with progressive increases in lipid storage potential and insulin resistance to support fetal/placental growth. This requires significant change in the adipose tissue. Women living with obesity/overweight are more susceptible to these changes causing complications such as gestational diabetes. This is particularly worrying as up to 60% of European women are living with overweight/obesity at the onset of pregnancy. Furthermore, less than 1% meet all nutrition guidelines. There is now evidence that these deep metabolic changes can result in a predisposition to metabolic disease in both the mother and child in later life. Health and nutrition status during this period therefore represents a window to future health. This period offers a valuable opportunity for intervention to prevent the negative consequences of poor in utero environments and increases the long‐term quality of life for mother and offspring. This review will examine a range of in utero factors which determine adipose tissue development, the impact of these factors on later‐life obesity and metabolic health and the therapeutic value of dietary anti‐inflammatory nutritional interventions during pregnancy and early life. When it comes to early life nutrition, a ‘one size fits all’ approach is not always appropriate. Understanding the mechanisms of adipose tissue development in response to differing nutritional strategies may be important in the context of complicated or adverse in utero environments and represents a substantial step towards a more personalised nutritional approach for the prevention of obesity, metabolic syndrome and related non‐communicable diseases in future generations. What is the topic of this review? The influence of adversein utero environments (obesogenic, undernutrition, gestational diabetes) onadipocyte capacity and the associated risk of obesity and metabolicdysregulation in later life. What advances does it highlight? Novel anti‐inflammatory dietary intervention strategies duringpregnancy that aim prevent obesity and metabolic dysfunction in the offspring. Despiteoverwhelming evidence of inflammatory involvement in obesity and associatedcomorbidities, the involvement of metabolic inflammation on pregnancy andearly‐life programming of metabolic disease has not been investigatedcomprehensively. Studies identifying novel intervention strategies to combat apoor start to life are pivotal in the developmental programming field given thedual approach of both identifying valid nutritional interventions while at thesame time aiding in the identification of molecular targets that influenceadipose tissue function early in the lifecourse.