Programming of obesity and cardiovascular disease

Abstract

BACKGROUND: There is evidence that malnutrition in early life induces a growth retardation leading, in adult life, to manifest components of the metabolic syndrome. However, the impact on obesity seems less clearly established. OBJECTIVE: To review the effects of foetal and postnatal malnutrition on the programming of obesity in the context of the metabolic syndrome, as well as the link between central obesity and cardiovascular diseases. METHODS: Included in the review were recent papers exploring the mechanisms linking maternal nutrition with impaired foetal growth and later obesity, cardiovascular disease, hypertension and diabetes in humans and animals. RESULTS: The programming of obesity during foetal and early postnatal life depends of the timing of maternal malnutrition as well as the postnatal environment. Obesity arises principally in offspring submitted to malnutrition during early stages of gestation and which presented early catch-up growth. The programming may involve the dysregulation of appetite control or the hormonal environment leading to a context favourable to obesity development (hypersecretion of corticosteroids, hyperinsulinaemia and hyperleptinaemia and anomalies in the IGF axis). Adipose tissue secretes actively several factors implicated in inflammation, blood pressure, coagulation and fibrinolysis. The programmed development of intra-abdominal obesity after early growth restriction may thus favour higher prevalence of hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. CONCLUSIONS: Abdominal obesity appears in malnourished offspring and is aggravated by early catch-up growth. Higher rates of intra-abdominal obesity observed after growth restriction may participate to hypertension and create atherothrombotic conditions leading to the development of cardiovascular diseases.

Effect of postnatal catch-up growth on blood pressure in children at 3 years of age

“…4 In contrast, others show that a lower birth weight is associated with a subsequent rapid postnatal weight gain and greater fat body composition during the early years of postnatal life. 31,[38][39][40][41][42] Our study of children from birth to 3 years of age shows both trends. From the perspective of crude weight gain, young children with lower birth weights appeared to remain smaller than their peers whose birth weights were in the higher group.…”

Dietary fat and fat types as early determinants of childhood obesity: a reappraisal

“…Indeed, energy or protein deficiency during gestation was shown to increase the risk for the offspring developing obesity later in life. 21,22 To our knowledge, population-based studies investigating the consequences of maternal/fetal exposure to a high-fat diet during gestation on the risk of developing childhood obesity are lacking. Several rodent studies indicate that maternal high-fat feeding, without increase of energy intake, during pregnancy and lactation results in increased adiposity of the offspring, [23][24][25] while another study shows a decrease in the percentage of body fat.…”

Growth Patterns of Premature Infants Up to 40th Term Week of Corrected Age

“…, 이후 아동 및 성인기의 비만 및 심질환 (Remacle, Bieswal, & Reusens, 2004) 및 암발생 연관성 (Ross & Milner, 2007)에 관한 최근 연구에서 활발히 논의되고 있다 (Hales & Ozanne, 2003;Ong, 2007;Wells, 2007) 2) 키( Table 2) GA집단 ( …”