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Review
. 2020 Sep 8;12(9):2735.
doi: 10.3390/nu12092735.

Adipose Tissue Development and Expansion from the Womb to Adolescence: An Overview

Camila E Orsso  1 , Eloisa Colin-Ramirez  2 , Catherine J Field  1 , Karen L Madsen  3 , Carla M Prado  1 , Andrea M Haqq  4
Affiliations
Review

Adipose Tissue Development and Expansion from the Womb to Adolescence: An Overview

Camila E Orsso et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Prevalence rates of pediatric obesity continue to rise worldwide. Adipose tissue (AT) development and expansion initiate in the fetus and extend throughout the lifespan. This paper presents an overview of the AT developmental trajectories from the intrauterine period to adolescence; factors determining adiposity expansion are also discussed. The greatest fetal increases in AT were observed in the third pregnancy trimester, with growing evidence suggesting that maternal health and nutrition, toxin exposure, and genetic defects impact AT development. From birth up to six months, healthy term newborns experience steep increases in AT; but a subsequent reduction in AT is observed during infancy. Important determinants of AT in infancy identified in this review included feeding practices and factors shaping the gut microbiome. Low AT accrual rates are maintained up to puberty onset, at which time, the pattern of adiposity expansion becomes sex dependent. As girls experience rapid increases and boys experience decreases in AT, sexual dimorphism in hormone secretion can be considered the main contributor for changes. Eating patterns/behaviors and interactions between dietary components, gut microbiome, and immune cells also influence AT expansion. Despite the plasticity of this tissue, substantial evidence supports that adiposity at birth and infancy highly influences its levels across subsequent life stages. Thus, a unique window of opportunity for the prevention and/or slowing down of the predisposition toward obesity, exists from pregnancy through childhood.

Keywords: adipose tissue; adolescence; children; development; obesity.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. A.M.H. has received grant funding from Rhythm pharmaceuticals and Levo therapeutics outside of the submitted work. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schema representing the developmental trajectories of body fat from intrauterine life to adolescence in healthy girls and boys. Note that although the lines depicting percent body fat in girls and boys were plotted based on reference data from Fomon et al. [23] and Ellis [24], we did not intend to provide values for this body compartment as it can vary depending on the body composition technique used, race/ethnicity, and other factors. Herein, we intended to present an overview of the general expansion patterns of adiposity stratified by sex.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Summary of factors discussed in this review that potentially contribute to adipose tissue development and expansion in the early stages of life.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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