Obesity, high-fat diets during pregnancy could harm fetus

December 29, 2014

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Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

Pregnant women who are obese or eating a diet high in fatty foods could unwittingly be harming their unborn child, according to new research published by the journal Molecular Metabolism.

In the study, researchers from the Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) Doernbecher Childrens Hospital found that a high-fat diet and obesity during pregnancy could damage the hematopoietic (blood-forming) stem cells of the fetal liver that are responsible for creating and sustaining blood and immune system function throughout a persons lifetime.

The life-long burden of a western-style diet on the heart and circulatory system have long been appreciated, the university explained in a statement. However, prior to this study, no one had considered whether the developing blood stem cells might be similarly vulnerable to prenatal high-fat diet and/or maternal obesity.

Our results offer a model for testing whether the effects of a high-fat diet and obesity can be repaired through dietary intervention, a key question when extrapolating this data to human populations, added study co-author Dr. Daniel L. Marks, a professor of pediatric endocrinology in the OHSU School of Medicine and Pap Family Pediatric Research Institute at the hospital.

Several years ago, the researchers developed a mouse model designed to mimic the type of diet consumed by many young women of childbearing age high in fat and simple sugars. Their investigation revealed that maternal overnutrition in mice significantly reduced the size of the fetal liver.

Following that research, Marks joined forces with Dr. Peter Kurre, a stem cell expert and a professor of pediatric oncology in the OHSU School of Medicine and the Pap Family Pediatric Research Institute. Together, they found that the complex changes that occur as a result of this maternal diet and obesity constrains the grown and expansion of blood stem cells in the fetal liver. As a result, this ultimately compromises a childs developing immune system.

In light of the spreading western-style, high-fat diet and accompanying obesity epidemic, this study highlights the need to better understand the previous unrecognized susceptibility of the stem and progenitor cell system, said Kurre. These findings may provide broad context for the rise in immune disease and allergic disposition in children.

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Obesity, high-fat diets during pregnancy could harm fetus