Developmental programming of adult obesity and cardiovascular disease in rodents by maternal nutrition imbalance

Abstract

Studies on fetal undernutrition have generated the hypothesis that fetal programming corresponds to an attempt of the fetus to adapt to adverse conditions encountered in utero. These adaptations would be beneficial if these conditions prevail later in life, but they become detrimental in the case of normal or plentiful nutrition and favor the appearance of the metabolic syndrome. In this article, the discussion is limited to the developmental programming of obesity and cardiovascular disorders caused by an early mismatched nutrition, particularly intrauterine growth retardation followed by postnatal catch-up growth. Selected data in humans are reviewed before evoking some mechanisms revealed or suggested by experiments in rodents. A variety of physiologic mechanisms are implicated in obesity programming, 2 of which are detailed. In some, but not all observations, hyperphagia resulting namely from perturbed development of the hypothalamic circuitry devoted to appetite regulation may contribute to obesity. Another contribution may be the developmental changes in the population of fat cell precursors in adipose tissue. Even if the link between obesity and cardiovascular disease is well established, alteration of blood pressure regulation may appear independently of obesity. A loss of diurnal variation in heart rate and blood pressure in adulthood has resulted from maternal undernutrition followed by postnatal overnutrition. Further research should clarify the effect of mismatched early nutrition on the development of brain centers regulating energy intake, energy expenditure, and circadian rhythms.

Relative contribution of foetal and post‐natal nutritional periods on feeding regulation in adult rats

“…, Remacle et al . ). Additionally, others also observed the long‐term protection effect of restricted energy intake during lactation (Ozanne et al .…”

Pre-Weaning Growth Hormone Treatment Ameliorates Bone Marrow Macrophage Inflammation in Adult Male Rat Offspring following Maternal Undernutrition

“…There is growing interest in the role of developmental programming in chronic adult onset conditions characterised by low-grade inflammation such as cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes [16]. Indeed, recent work by this group has demonstrated significant obesity and metabolic dysfunction in male offspring of UN mothers with beneficial effects of pre-weaning GH treatment on cardiovascular status and endothelial dysfunction [12].…”

Nutritional programming of insulin resistance: causes and consequences

“…Nutritional programming during the perinatal period significantly influences risk factors that promote the development of insulin resistance and associated complications in the fetus [7,8] (Box 2). This evidence comes from studies both in humans and in animal models using four main types of nutritional modulation, as outlined below.…”