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Nutrients Jun 2024Immune system development during gestation and suckling is significantly modulated by maternal environmental and dietary factors. Breastfeeding is widely recognized as...
Immune system development during gestation and suckling is significantly modulated by maternal environmental and dietary factors. Breastfeeding is widely recognized as the optimal source of nutrition for infant growth and immune maturation, and its composition can be modulated by the maternal diet. In the present work, we investigated whether oral supplementation with and short-chain galacto-oligosaccharide (scGOS) and long-chain fructo-oligosaccharide (lcFOS) to rat dams during gestation and lactation has an impact on the immune system and microbiota composition of the offspring at day 21 of life. On that day, blood, adipose tissue, small intestine (SI), mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN), salivary gland (SG), cecum, and spleen were collected. Synbiotic supplementation did not affect the overall body or organ growth of the pups. The gene expression of , , , and were upregulated in the SI, and the increase in IgA gene expression was further confirmed at the protein level in the gut wash. Synbiotic supplementation also positively impacted the microbiota composition in both the small and large intestines, resulting in higher proportions of genus, among others. In addition, there was an increase in butanoic, isobutanoic, and acetic acid concentrations in the cecum but a reduction in the small intestine. At the systemic level, synbiotic supplementation resulted in higher levels of immunoglobulin IgG2c in plasma, SG, and MLN, but it did not modify the main lymphocyte subsets in the spleen and MLN. Overall, synbiotic maternal supplementation is able to positively influence the immune system development and microbiota of the suckling offspring, particularly at the gastrointestinal level.
Topics: Animals; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Synbiotics; Female; Bifidobacterium breve; Pregnancy; Oligosaccharides; Rats; Animals, Suckling; Dietary Supplements; Maternal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; Lactation; Immune System; Male; Animals, Newborn
PubMed: 38931246
DOI: 10.3390/nu16121890 -
Nutrients Jun 2024The maternal microbiome plays a vital role in shaping pregnancy outcomes, but there remains a substantial gap in understanding its precise relationships to maternal... (Observational Study)
Observational Study
The maternal microbiome plays a vital role in shaping pregnancy outcomes, but there remains a substantial gap in understanding its precise relationships to maternal health, particularly in relation to potential effects of body mass index (BMI) on gut microbial diversity. The aim of this observational study was to assess maternal characteristics in association with pre-pregnancy BMI and to further assess microbial diversity in association with specific maternal characteristics. Eighty-four pregnant women were recruited during their third trimester of pregnancy from various prenatal clinics across the state of Michigan. The participants completed an enrollment questionnaire including self-reported pre-pregnancy BMI; stool samples were collected to assess the fecal microbial community composition. Pre-pregnancy obesity (BMI 30+) was associated (univariably) with antibiotic use before pregnancy, ever smoked, lower education level, and being unmarried. The gut microbiota alpha diversity was significantly different for pregnant women by pre-pregnancy BMI category (normal, overweight, obese). The beta diversity was unique for the gut microbiotas of pregnant women within each BMI category, by education level, and by marital status. Multivariable models revealed that pre-pregnancy BMI, maternal education, marital status, and maternal age were associated with the microbial diversity of the gut microbiota during pregnancy. These results give new insight into the relationship between a woman's microbiome during pregnancy and their prenatal health, along with an understanding of the relationships between socioeconomic factors and microbial diversity.
Topics: Humans; Female; Pregnancy; Body Mass Index; Adult; Feces; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Obesity; Michigan; Young Adult; Educational Status; Socioeconomic Factors; Pregnancy Trimester, Third
PubMed: 38931236
DOI: 10.3390/nu16121881 -
Nutrients Jun 2024Maternal obesity and/or Western diet (WD) is associated with an increased risk of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) in offspring, driven,...
Maternal obesity and/or Western diet (WD) is associated with an increased risk of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) in offspring, driven, in part, by the dysregulation of the early life microbiome. Here, using a mouse model of WD-induced maternal obesity, we demonstrate that exposure to a disordered microbiome from WD-fed dams suppressed circulating levels of endogenous ligands of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR; indole, indole-3-acetate) and TMAO (a product of AHR-mediated transcription), as well as hepatic expression of (an AHR target), in offspring at 3 weeks of age. This signature was recapitulated by fecal microbial transfer from WD-fed pregnant dams to chow-fed germ-free (GF) lactating dams following parturition and was associated with a reduced abundance of in GF offspring. Further, the expression of was downregulated in liver myeloid cells and in LPS-stimulated bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDM) in adult offspring, suggestive of a hypo-responsive, or tolerant, innate immune response. BMDMs from adult mice lacking AHR in macrophages exhibited a similar tolerogenic response, including diminished expression of . Overall, our study shows that exposure to maternal WD alters microbial metabolites in the offspring that affect AHR signaling, potentially contributing to innate immune hypo-responsiveness and progression of MASLD, highlighting the impact of early life gut dysbiosis on offspring metabolism. Further investigations are warranted to elucidate the complex interplay between maternal diet, gut microbial function, and the development of neonatal innate immune tolerance and potential therapeutic interventions targeting these pathways.
Topics: Animals; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Female; Pregnancy; Diet, Western; Immunity, Innate; Tryptophan; Mice; Receptors, Aryl Hydrocarbon; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Interleukin-10; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; Obesity, Maternal; Liver; Maternal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; Male; Macrophages; Disease Models, Animal
PubMed: 38931163
DOI: 10.3390/nu16121808 -
Journal of Clinical Medicine Jun 2024The placenta undergoes morphological and functional adaptations to adverse exposures during pregnancy. The effects ofsuboptimal maternal body mass index (BMI), preterm...
Gestational Age, Infection, and Suboptimal Maternal Prepregnancy BMI Independently Associate with Placental Histopathology in a Cohort of Pregnancies without Major Maternal Comorbidities.
The placenta undergoes morphological and functional adaptations to adverse exposures during pregnancy. The effects ofsuboptimal maternal body mass index (BMI), preterm birth, and infection on placental histopathological phenotypes are not yet well understood, despite the association between these conditions and poor offspring outcomes. We hypothesized that suboptimal maternal prepregnancy BMI and preterm birth (with and without infection) would associate with altered placental maturity and morphometry, and that altered placental maturity would associate with poor birth outcomes. Clinical data and human placentae were collected from 96 pregnancies where mothers were underweight, normal weight, overweight, or obese, without other major complications. Placental histopathological characteristics were scored by an anatomical pathologist. Associations between maternal BMI, placental pathology (immaturity and hypermaturity), placental morphometry, and infant outcomes were investigated for term and preterm births with and without infection. : Fetal capillary volumetric proportion was decreased, whereas the villous stromal volumetric proportion was increased in placentae from preterm pregnancies with chorioamnionitis compared to preterm placentae without chorioamnionitis. At term and preterm, pregnancies with maternal overweight and obesity had a high percentage increase in proportion of immature placentae compared to normal weight. Placental maturity did not associate with infant birth outcomes. We observed placental hypermaturity and altered placental morphometry among preterm pregnancies with chorioamnionitis, suggestive of altered placental development, which may inform about pregnancies susceptible to preterm birth and infection. : Our data increase our understanding of how common metabolic exposures and preterm birth, in the absence of other comorbidities or complications, potentially contribute to poor pregnancy outcomes and developmental programming.
PubMed: 38929907
DOI: 10.3390/jcm13123378 -
Genes Jun 2024Infant consumption of human milk (HM) is associated with a reduced risk of overweight and obesity, but the reasons for this relationship are not completely understood....
Infant consumption of human milk (HM) is associated with a reduced risk of overweight and obesity, but the reasons for this relationship are not completely understood. There is emerging evidence that micro RNAs (miRNAs) regulate infant development and metabolism, but the associations between HM miRNAs and infant growth remain poorly understood. We examined the relationship between HM miRNA consumption and infant obesity in 163 mother-infant dyads to determine (1) if miRNA profiles differentiate infants with obesity, and (2) if individual miRNAs accurately predicted infant obesity status at one year of age. Infant obesity was categorized as weight-for-length (WFL) Z scores or conditional weight gain (CWG) in the 95th percentile. HM miRNA profile was associated with infant age (r = 6.4%, = 0.001), but not maternal obesity status (r = 1.5%, = 0.87) or infant weight status (WFL Z-score) at birth (r = 0.6%, = 0.4), 1 month (r = 0.5%, = 0.6), or 4 months (r = 0.8%, = 0.2). Nine HM miRNAs were associated with either 12-month CWG or 12-month WFL Z scores. Among these 9 miRNAs, miR-224-5p remained significant in a logistic regression model that accounted for additional demographic factors (estimate = -27.57, = 0.004). These findings suggest involvement of HM miRNAs and particularly miR-224-5p in infant growth, warranting further investigation. To our knowledge, this is the largest study of HM miRNAs and early-life obesity and contributes to the understanding of the relationship between HM miRNAs and infant growth.
Topics: Humans; Milk, Human; Female; MicroRNAs; Infant; Male; Adult; Infant, Newborn; Obesity; Pediatric Obesity; Breast Feeding
PubMed: 38927748
DOI: 10.3390/genes15060813 -
Biology May 2024Maternal obesity is a well-established risk factor for offspring obesity development. The relationship between maternal and offspring obesity is mediated in part by...
Maternal obesity is a well-established risk factor for offspring obesity development. The relationship between maternal and offspring obesity is mediated in part by developmental programming of offspring metabolic circuitry, including hypothalamic signaling. Dysregulated hypothalamic inflammation has also been linked to development of obesity. We utilized an established C57Bl/6J mouse model of high-fat, high-sugar diet induced maternal obesity to evaluate the effect of maternal obesity on systemic and hypothalamic TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β levels in neonatal and adult offspring. The offspring of dams with obesity demonstrated increased adiposity and decreased activity compared to control offspring. Maternal obesity was associated with decreased plasma TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-1β in adult female offspring and decreased plasma IL-6 in neonatal male offspring. Neonatal female offspring of obese dams had decreased TNF-α gene expression in the hypothalamus compared to control females, while neonatal and adult male offspring of obese dams had decreased IL-6 gene expression in the hypothalamus compared to control males. In summary, our results highlight important sex differences in the inflammatory phenotype of offspring exposed to maternal obesity. Sex-specific immunomodulatory mechanisms should be considered in future efforts to develop therapeutic interventions for obesity prevention and treatment.
PubMed: 38927279
DOI: 10.3390/biology13060399 -
Developmental Psychobiology Sep 2024Maternal gestational obesity is related to risk of obesity in the child. This risk may be in part mediated by altered child temperament, which can affect mother-child...
Maternal gestational obesity is related to risk of obesity in the child. This risk may be in part mediated by altered child temperament, which can affect mother-child interactions, including feeding and soothing behaviors that affect obesity risk. Our objective was to examine the association between maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and child zBMI and determine if child temperament, specifically positive Affectivity/Surgency, mediates this association. Using conditional process modeling, we analyzed data from 408 mother-child dyads enrolled in the Alberta Pregnancy Outcomes and Nutrition (APrON) study. Child temperament was assessed at 3 years of age via a parent report measure, the Child Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ), and child zBMI was calculated from in-person measurements of child height and weight at 4-5 years of age. Bivariate correlations showed that there was a significant positive correlation between zBMI and Surgency (r = 0.11, p = 0.03), and zBMI was also correlated with maternal pre-pregnancy BMI (r = 0.12, p = 0.02). Multivariable regression revealed that maternal pre-pregnancy BMI (adjusted β = 0.15, 95% confidence interval [CI]; 0.00-0.05, p = 0.02) and Surgency scores (adjusted β = 0.14, 95% CI; 0.02-0.28, p = 0.03) were associated with higher child zBMI at 4-5 years of age. Mediation analysis showed that Surgency mediated the association between pre-pregnancy BMI and child zBMI. Our models controlled for maternal gestational weight gain, gestational diabetes, socioeconomic status, maternal anxiety and depression, and gestational age at birth. Overall, maternal pre-pregnancy BMI was positively associated with child zBMI, and this association was mediated by higher child Surgency scores.
Topics: Humans; Female; Body Mass Index; Child, Preschool; Pregnancy; Temperament; Pediatric Obesity; Adult; Male; Child Behavior; Mother-Child Relations; Obesity, Maternal; Affect
PubMed: 38924077
DOI: 10.1002/dev.22517 -
Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology... Jun 2024Previous studies of maternal docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) supplementation during pregnancy have controversial and contrasting results on the short and long-term effects on...
BACKGROUND
Previous studies of maternal docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) supplementation during pregnancy have controversial and contrasting results on the short and long-term effects on early child growth. The impact of this nutritional intervention on the postnatal growth patterns in the offspring of women with pregestational overweight/obesity (PGO) also remains controversial.
OBJECTIVE
To analyze the postnatal growth patterns during the first 4 months of life in the offspring of women with PGO randomly supplemented with 800 mg/day (PGO-800) compared with normative doses of 200 mg/day (PGO-200) of DHA during pregnancy (<15 weeks of gestation until delivery).
METHODS
This study evaluated the growth patterns during the first 4 months of life of 169 infants of the women that participated in the MIGHT study (NCT02574767). We included the infants of women from the PGO-200 (n = 81) and PGO-800 group (n = 88). The growth patterns (weight, length, and head circumference) and change in z-score (WHO charts) were evaluated.
RESULTS
Throughout the first 4 months of life, the infants of the PGO-800 group had lower weight-for-length z-score (coef. -0.65, 95% confidence interval [CI] -1.07, -0.22, p = 0.003) and lower body mass index-for-age z-score (coef. -0.56, 95% CI -0.99, -0.12, p = 0.012) compared with the PGO-200 group adjusted by maternal body mass index, gestational weight gain, gestational age, insulin in cord blood and infant feeding (exclusive breastfed, not breastfed, and partially breastfed).
CONCLUSIONS
Maternal supplementation with DHA during pregnancy could beneficially limit the offspring's postnatal weight gain during the first 4 months of life.
PubMed: 38922906
DOI: 10.1002/jpn3.12294 -
Scientific Reports Jun 2024The benefits of breastfeeding for the health and wellbeing of both infants and mothers are well documented, yet global breastfeeding rates are low. One factor associated...
The benefits of breastfeeding for the health and wellbeing of both infants and mothers are well documented, yet global breastfeeding rates are low. One factor associated with low breast feeding is maternal body mass index (BMI), which is used as a measure of obesity. The negative relationship between maternal obesity and breastfeeding is likely caused by a variety of social, psychological, and physiological factors. Maternal obesity may also have a direct biological association with breastfeeding through changes in maternal DNA methylation. Here, we investigate this potential biological association using data from a UK-based cohort study, the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). We find that pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) is associated with lower initiation to breastfeed and shorter breastfeeding duration. We conduct epigenome-wide association studies (EWAS) of pre-pregnancy BMI and breastfeeding outcomes, and run candidate-gene analysis of methylation sites associated with BMI identified via previous meta-EWAS. We find that DNA methylation at cg11453712, annotated to PHTP1, is associated with pre-pregnancy BMI. From our results, neither this association nor those at candidate-gene sites are likely to mediate the link between pre-pregnancy BMI and breastfeeding.
Topics: Humans; DNA Methylation; Breast Feeding; Body Mass Index; Female; Pregnancy; Adult; Longitudinal Studies; Genome-Wide Association Study; United Kingdom; Obesity; Epigenesis, Genetic
PubMed: 38918574
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-65605-0 -
Scientific Reports Jun 2024Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) promote adequate intestinal microbiota development and favor the immune system's maturation and cognitive development. In addition to...
Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) promote adequate intestinal microbiota development and favor the immune system's maturation and cognitive development. In addition to non-modifiable factors, HMOs composition can be influenced by other factors like body mass index and eating habits, but the reports are discrepant. The aim of this work was to describe the correlation between maternal factors and HMOs concentration in colostrum in 70 women from northeastern Mexico categorized into women with normal weight and women with overweight or obesity. The absolute concentration of six HMOs were significantly lower in women with overweight or obesity compared to women with normal weight (LNFPI p = 0.0021, 2'-FL p = 0.0304, LNT p = 0.0492, LNnT p = 0.00026, 3'-SL p = 0.0476, 6'-SL p = 0.00041). Another main finding was that the frequency of consumption of food groups such as vegetables, fruits and meats was positively correlated to specific HMOs (Poblano chili and 2'-FL; r = 0.702, p = 0.0012; Orange or tangerine and 3-FL; r = 0.428, p = 0.0022; Chicken and 2'-FL; r = 0.615, p = 0.0039). This study contributes to the elucidation of how maternal factors influence the composition of HMOs and opens possibilities for future research aimed at mitigating overweight or obesity, consequently improving the quality of human milk.
Topics: Humans; Milk, Human; Female; Mexico; Oligosaccharides; Adult; Breast Feeding; Feeding Behavior; Obesity; Body Mass Index; Colostrum; Overweight; Young Adult
PubMed: 38918476
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-63787-1