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Review
. 2020 Dec 1;78(Suppl 2):25-31.
doi: 10.1093/nutrit/nuaa121.

Maternal-infant nutrition and development programming of offspring appetite and obesity

Mina Desai  1 , Michael G Ross  1
Affiliations
Review

Maternal-infant nutrition and development programming of offspring appetite and obesity

Mina Desai et al. Nutr Rev. .

Abstract

In the United States and Mexico, the obesity epidemic represents a significant public health problem. Although obesity is often attributed to a Western-style, high-fat diet and decreased activity, there is now compelling evidence that this, in part, occurs because of the developmental programming effects resulting from exposure to maternal overnutrition. Human and animal studies demonstrate that maternal obesity and high-fat diet result in an increased risk for childhood and adult obesity. The potential programming effects of obesity have been partly attributed to hyperphagia, which occurs as a result of increased appetite with reduced satiety neuropeptides or neurons. However, depending on maternal nutritional status during the nursing period, the programmed hyperphagia and obesity can be exacerbated or prevented in offspring born to obese mothers. The underlying mechanism of this phenomenon likely involves the plasticity of the appetite regulatory center and thus presents an opportunity to modulate feeding and satiety regulation and break the obesity cycle.

Keywords: arcuate nucleus remodeling; hypothalamic arcuate nucleus; maternal obesity; neurogenesis; neuropeptides.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Hypothalamic arcuate nucleus. (A) Development of functional hypothalamic arcuate nucleus (ARC) comprises neurogenesis, which occurs during the prenatal period, and neuronal circuitry formation, which occurs during the early postnatal period. Whereas neurogenesis occurs from early to mid gestation in humans and rodents, the neuronal circuitry formation in rodents occurs during the postnatal period; in humans, it occurs during the prenatal period. (B) Appetite neurons (neuropeptide Y [NPY]; agouti-related peptide [AgRP]) and satiety neurons are located in the hypothalamic ARC with projections to the paraventricular nucleus (PVN). Abbreviation: PMOC, pro-opiomelanocortin.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Effect of maternal obesity on offspring neuropeptide. Exposure to maternal obesity results in increased hypothalamic neuropeptide Y (NPY) and decreased pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) expression in the newborns. Continued exposure to maternal obesity during the nursing period favors arcuate nucleus remodeling towards additional NPY formation.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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