Risk factors associated with intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) have previously been identified, but few studies have described the relationship between IUGR and maternal stress caused by exposure to civil unrest. Here, we investigate this relationship during the Mount Elgon crisis in western Kenya between 2006 and 2008, following a period of violence. Birth weight data were compared between three hospitals in an exposed area, Mount Elgon (n=570), and one hospital in a control area, Kimilili (n=530). In a sub-analysis, the most stress exposed hospital, Bungoma West (n=211), was compared with the control hospital in Kimilili. Adjustments were made for offspring sex, gestational age and parity. The difference in mean birth weight between the most stress-exposed hospital (Bungoma West) and the control hospital (Kimilili) was 91 g after full adjustment (P=0.041). In conclusion, epidemiological data suggest a significant relationship between exposure to civil unrest and IUGR causing lower birth weight.

Uteroplacental insufficiency resulting in intrauterine growth restriction has been associated with the development of cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease and increased blood pressure, particularly in males. The molecular mechanisms that result in the programming of these phenotypes are not clear. This study investigated the expression of cardiac JAK/STAT signalling genes in growth restricted offspring born small due to uteroplacental insufficiency. Bilateral uterine vessel ligation was performed on day 18 of pregnancy to induce growth restriction (Restricted) or sham surgery (Control). Cardiac tissue at embryonic day (E) 20, postnatal day (PN) 1, PN7 and PN35 in male and female Wistar (WKY) rats (n=7–10 per group per age) was isolated and mRNA extracted. In the heart, there was an effect of age for males for all genes examined there was a decrease in expression after PN1. With females, JAK2 expression was significantly reduced after E20, while PI3K in females was increased at E30 and PN35. Further, mRNA expression was significantly altered in JAK/STAT signalling targets in Restricteds in a sex-specific manner. Compared with Controls, in males, JAK2 and STAT3 were significantly reduced in the Restricted, while in females SOCS3 was significantly increased and PI3K significantly decreased in the Restricted offspring. Finally, there were specific differences in the levels of gene expression within the JAK/STAT pathway when comparing males to females. Thus, growth restriction alters specific targets in the JAK/STAT signalling pathway, with altered JAK2 and STAT3 potentially contributing to the increased risk of cardiovascular disease in the growth restricted males.

Bisphenol A (BPA), a monomer of polycarbonate plastics and epoxide resin, is a high-production-volume chemical implicated in asthma pathogenesis when exposure occurs to the developing fetus. However, few studies have directly examined the effect of in utero and early-life BPA exposure on the pathogenesis of asthma in adulthood. This study examines the influence of perinatal BPA exposure through maternal diet on allergen sensitization and pulmonary inflammation in adult offspring. Two weeks before mating, BALB/c dams were randomly assigned to a control diet or diets containing 50 ng, 50 μg or 50 mg BPA/kg of rodent chow. Dams remained on the assigned diet throughout gestation and lactation until postnatal day (PND) 21 when offspring were weaned onto the control diet. Twelve-week-old offspring were sensitized to ovalbumin (OVA) and subsequently challenged with aerosolized OVA. Sera, splenocytes, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and whole lungs were harvested to assess allergen sensitization and pulmonary inflammation after OVA challenge. Serum anti-OVA IgE levels were increased two-fold in offspring exposed to 50 μg and 50 mg BPA/kg diet, compared with control animals. In addition, production of interleukin-13 and interferon-γ were increased in OVA-stimulated splenocytes recovered from BPA-exposed mice. Pulmonary inflammation, as indicated by total and differential leukocyte counts, cytokines, chemokines and pulmonary histopathology inflammatory scores, however, was either not different or was reduced in offspring exposed to BPA. Although these data suggest that perinatal BPA exposure beginning before gestation enhances allergen sensitization by increasing serum IgE and splenocyte cytokine production, a substantial impact of BPA on OVA-induced pulmonary inflammation in adulthood was not observed.

Pregnancy is a special condition where many metabolic changes may occur because of increased requirement of essential micronutrients such as iron and iodine. Foetal thyroid starts producing its own thyroid hormones after 12 weeks of gestation. Therefore, the first trimester is very crucial for meeting thyroid hormone requirements of the mother and foetus. Iodine deficiency and iron deficiency may affect mental and physical growth of the foetus. Hence, it is very important to establish a programme on the screening of pregnant women for thyroid dysfunction tests along with established iron status assessment. Thus, the study was aimed to screen the pregnant women for iodine deficiency disorders and iron deficiency during early gestation, situational analysis on thyroid insufficiency and iron deficiency in pregnant women (gestational age <15 weeks) in urban Vadodara, Gujarat. n = 256 healthy pregnant women with uncomplicated singleton pregnancy were selected. The thyroid hormone was estimated by RIA, UIE using simple microplate technique and haemoglobin (Hb) concentration by acid hematin method. Median thyrotropin (TSH), free thyroxine (FT4), total thyroxine (TT4) and UIE concentrations were 1.88 μIU/ml, 0.83 ng/dl, 10.24 μg/dl and 297.14 mcg/l, respectively. There was a significant correlation between TSH, FT4 and month of gestation. Mean Hb concentration was 9.27 ± 1.09 g/dl. The prevalence of iodine insufficiency (based on UI) was 16.79% and iron deficiency was 91%. Screening programme for iodine deficiency during early gestation should be implemented along with the existing programme of haemoglobin estimation at first prenatal visit. This would help prevent damage to the developing brain and growth of the foetus and also to trace at-risk pregnant women.

The development and life performance of 404 high-producing Holstein dairy cows was studied from birth onwards and during two lactations. The management, environment and parental genetics of the cows were known in detail. Cluster analysis identified four performance ‘types’: high-yielding (HY) cows and persistently high-yielding (PHY) cows, which accounted for 33% of the animals; medium-yielding (MY) cows, 41%; and low-yielding (LY) cows, 26%. Prenatal determinants of the life performance of the progeny were analyzed. Developmental and environmental factors were excluded as determinants of performance (including birth weight, level of passive immunity transfer, growth rate, age at first parturition and reproductive efficiency). Life performance did show minor seasonal effects, with more HY cows but less PHY being born during the cold season (90.1% in HY; 58.3% in PHY v. 81.5%). Instead, the single most important factor influencing life performance of daughters was maternal age. HY cows were born from the youngest mothers (1.89±1.14 parturitions, 3.12±1.42-year old), whereas LY cows were born from the oldest (2.72±1.80 parturitions, 3.97±2.01-year old; P<0.001). Life performance of the dams did not differ among clusters. In addition, metabolic parameters (fat and protein yield) were found to correlate significantly with yields between the first and second lactations (milk yield: r=0.357; fat yield: r=0.211; protein yield: r=0.277; P<0.0001), suggesting the influence of the individual. These results suggest that under optimal health, nutritional and environmental conditions, maternal aging is an important determinant of the life performance of progeny and argue for the need to identify conditions that contribute to health and disease in progeny according to the Developmental Origin of Health and Disease or DOHaD concept. Our findings may help the development of novel management guidelines for dairy farms.

Lifecourse trajectories of clinical or anthropological attributes are useful for identifying how our early-life experiences influence later-life morbidity and mortality. Researchers often use growth mixture models (GMMs) to estimate such phenomena. It is common to place constrains on the random part of the GMM to improve parsimony or to aid convergence, but this can lead to an autoregressive structure that distorts the nature of the mixtures and subsequent model interpretation. This is especially true if changes in the outcome within individuals are gradual compared with the magnitude of differences between individuals. This is not widely appreciated, nor is its impact well understood. Using repeat measures of body mass index (BMI) for 1528 US adolescents, we estimated GMMs that required variance–covariance constraints to attain convergence. We contrasted constrained models with and without an autocorrelation structure to assess the impact this had on the ideal number of latent classes, their size and composition. We also contrasted model options using simulations. When the GMM variance–covariance structure was constrained, a within-class autocorrelation structure emerged. When not modelled explicitly, this led to poorer model fit and models that differed substantially in the ideal number of latent classes, as well as class size and composition. Failure to carefully consider the random structure of data within a GMM framework may lead to erroneous model inferences, especially for outcomes with greater within-person than between-person homogeneity, such as BMI. It is crucial to reflect on the underlying data generation processes when building such models.

Evidence suggests that breastfeeding during infancy lowers the risk of metabolic syndrome (MS) and its attendant risk factors in adult life. To investigate the influence of feeding type on the risk factors of MS, we assessed insulin sensitivity and lipid and apolipoprotein metabolism in preterm infants. Blood samples were collected from preterm infants at the time of discharge. Infants were separated into two groups: a breast milk (BM) group receiving ⩾90% of their intake from BM, and a mixed-fed (MF) group receiving ⩾50% of their intake from formula. The following indices were then compared between the two groups. Blood glucose and serum insulin levels were used to calculate the quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (QUICKI). We also measured serum total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLc), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLc), apolipoprotein-A1 (apoA1) and apolipoprotein-B (apoB) levels, and the ratios of TC/HDLc, LDLc/HDLc and apoB/apoA1. The mean gestational age was 32.9 weeks at birth, and blood samples were collected at a mean corrected age of 37.4 weeks. There were 22 infants in the BM group and 19 in the MF group. QUICKI was significantly higher in the BM group. TC, HDLc and apoA1 were not significantly different between the groups, but LDLc and apoB levels were significantly higher in the BM group. The TC/HDLc, LDLc/HDLc and apoB/apoA1 ratios were significantly higher in the BM group. In preterm infants, the type of feeding exposure in the early postnatal period may influence glucose, lipid and apolipoprotein metabolism, and affect markers of MS.

Methyl donor supplementation has been reported to prevent obesity-induced liver fat accumulation in adult rats. We hypothesized that this protection could be mediated by perinatal nutrition. For this purpose, we assessed the response to an obesogenic diet (high-fat-sucrose, HFS) during adulthood depending on maternal diet during lactation. Female Wistar rats fed control diet during pregnancy were assigned to four postpartum dietary groups: control, control supplemented with methyl donors (choline, betaine, folic acid, vitamin B12), HFS and HFS supplemented with methyl donors. At weaning, the male offspring was transferred to a chow diet and at week 12th assigned to a control or a HFS diet during 8 weeks. The offspring whose mothers were fed HFS during lactation showed increased adiposity (19%, P<0.001). When fed the HFS diet as adults, offspring whose mothers were HFS supplemented had more body fat (23%, P<0.001) than those from HFS non-supplemented. However, they showed lower liver fat accumulation (−18%, P<0.001). Srebf1, Dnmt1 and Lepr liver mRNA levels increased after adulthood HFS feeding. In those animals HFS fed during adulthood, previous maternal HFS decreased Lepr and Dnmt1 expression levels when compared with c-HFS offspring, while the supplementation of control and HFS-fed dams, respectively, induced higher hepatic Mme and Lepr mRNA levels after adult HFS intake compared with hfs-HFS offspring. In conclusion, maternal HFS diet during lactation influenced the response to an obesogenic diet in the adult progeny. Interestingly, dietary methyl donor supplementation in lactating mothers fed an obesogenic diet reduced liver fat accumulation, but increased adipose tissue storage in adult HFS-fed offspring.

Adverse uterine environments caused by maternal stress (such as bacterial endotoxin) can alter programming of the fetal hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis (HPAA) rendering offspring susceptible to various adulthood diseases. Thus, protection against this type of stress may be critical for ensuring offspring health. The present study was designed to determine if maternal supplementation with omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs) during pregnancy helps to protect against stress-induced fetal programming. Briefly, 53 ewes were fed a diet supplemented with fishmeal (FM) or soybean meal (SM) from day 100 of gestation (gd100) through lactation. On gd135, half the ewes from each dietary group were challenged with either 1.2 μg/kg Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) endotoxin, or saline as the control. The offspring’s cortisol response to weaning stress was assessed 50 days postpartum by measuring serum cortisol concentrations 0, 6 and 24 h post weaning. Twenty-four hours post-weaning, lambs were subjected to an adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) challenge (0.5 μg/kg) and serum cortisol concentrations were measured 0, 0.25, 0.5, 1 and 2 h post injection. At 5.5 months of age, offspring were also challenged with 400 ng/kg of LPS, and serum cortisol concentrations were measured 0, 2, 4 and 6 h post challenge. Interestingly, female offspring born to FM+LPS mothers had a greater cortisol response to weaning and endotoxin challenge compared with the other treatments, while female offspring born to SM+LPS mothers had a faster cortisol response to the ACTH stressor. Additionally, males born to FM+LPS mothers had a greater cortisol response to the ACTH challenge than the other treatments. Overall, FM supplementation during gestation combined with LPS challenge alters HPAA responsiveness of the offspring into adulthood.

Placental lipoprotein lipase (LPL) is crucial for placental lipid transfer. Impaired LPL gene expression and activity were reported in pregnancies complicated by gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and intra-uterine growth restriction. We hypothesized that placental LPL DNA methylation is altered by maternal metabolic status and could contribute to fetal programming. The objective of this study was thus to assess whether placental LPL DNA methylation is associated with GDM and both maternal and newborn lipid profiles. Placenta biopsies were sampled at delivery from 126 women including 27 women with GDM diagnosed following a post 75 g-oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) between weeks 24 and 28 of gestation. Placental LPL DNA methylation and expression levels were determined using bisulfite pyrosequencing and quantitative real-time PCR, respectively. DNA methylation levels within LPL proximal promoter region (CpG1) and intron 1 CpG island (CpGs 2 and 3) were lower in placenta of women with GDM. DNA methylation levels at LPL-CpG1 and CpG3 were also negatively correlated with maternal glucose (2-h post OGTT; r=–0.22; P=0.02) and HDL-cholesterol levels (third trimester of pregnancy; r=–0.20; p=0.03), respectively. Moreover, we report correlation between LPL-CpG2 DNA methylation and cord blood lipid profile. DNA methylation levels within intron 1 CpG island explained up to 26% (r⩽–0.51; P<0.001) of placental LPL mRNA expression variance. Overall, we showed that maternal metabolic profile is associated with placental LPL DNA methylation dysregulation. Our results suggest that site-specific LPL epipolymorphisms in the placenta are possibly functional and could potentially be involved in determining the future metabolic health of the newborn.

Although numerous studies have been conducted to examine the causal factors of childhood obesity, the implications of intrauterine oxidative stress on early postnatal adiposity development remain to be elucidated. The Universiti Sains Malaysia Birth Cohort Study aimed to investigate the effects of prenatal oxidative stress levels on the development of infant adiposity during the first year of life. This study was conducted on the healthy pregnant women aged 19–40 years, from April 2010 to December 2012 in Kelantan, Malaysia. Maternal blood samples were drawn in the second trimester to analyse for oxidative stress markers. Infant anthropometric measurements were taken at birth, 2, 6 and 12 months of age. A total of 153 pregnant women and full-term infants were included in the analysis. Statistical test was conducted by using multiple linear regression. Through the infant first year of life, as maternal DNA damage level in the second trimester increased, infant weights at birth (β=−0.122, P<0.001), 2 months (β=−0.120, P=0013), 6 months (β=−0.209, P=0.003) and 12 months of age (β=−0.241, P=0.006) decreased after adjusting for confounders. Similar results were noted when infant body mass index-for-age Z-scores and triceps skinfold-for-age Z-scores were used as the adiposity indicators. In conclusion, the present study shows a consistent inverse association between maternal DNA damage and infant adiposity during the first year of life. These infants with reduced growth and adiposity in early postnatal life may have a high tendency to experience catch-up growth during childhood, which could be strongly associated with later obesity.

Objective: To examine the association of cord blood leptin with body mass index (BMI) growth velocity from birth to 12 months of age among infants exposed and not exposed to over-nutrition in utero (defined as maternal overweight/obesity or presence of gestational diabetes). Methods: 185 infants enrolled in the Exploring Perinatal Outcomes among Children study (76 exposed and 109 not exposed) had leptin and insulin measured in cord blood. Longitudinal weight and length measures in the first 12 months of life (average 4 per participant) obtained from medical records were used to compute BMI growth rates. Mixed models were used to examine associations of cord blood leptin with growth. Results: Compared with unexposed infants, those exposed had significantly higher cord blood insulin (8.64 v. 6.97 uU/ml, P<0.01) and leptin levels (8.89 v. 5.92 ng/ml, P=0.05) as well as increased birth weights (3438.04 v. 3306.89 g, P=0.04). There was an inverse relationship between cord leptin levels and BMI growth from birth to 12 months of age (P=0.005); however, exposure to over-nutrition in utero did not significantly modify this association (P=0.59). Conclusion: We provide support of a possible operational feedback mechanism by which lower cord blood leptin levels are associated with faster infant growth in the first year of life. Our data do not tend to support the hypothesis that this mechanism is altered in infants exposed to over-nutrition in utero; however our sample is too small to provide sufficient evidence. Larger epidemiological studies are needed to elucidate the mechanisms responsible for increased propensity for obesity in exposed offspring.

This study investigated the effects of maternal separation on the feeding behavior of rats. A maternal separation model was used on postnatal day 1 (PND1), forming the following groups: in the maternal separation (MS) group, pups were separated from their mothers each day from PND1 to PND14, whereas in the control (C) group pups were kept with their mothers. Subgroups were formed to study the effects of light and darkness: control with dark and light exposure, female and male (CF and CM), and maternal separation with dark and light exposure, female and male (SDF, SDM, SLF and SLM). Female rats had higher caloric intake relative to body weight compared with male controls in the dark period only (CF=23.3±0.5 v. CM=18.2±0.7, P<0.001). Macronutrient feeding preferences were observed, with male rats exhibiting higher caloric intake from a protein diet as compared with female rats (CF=4.1±0.7, n=8 v. CM=7.0±0.5, n=8, P<0.05) and satiety development was not interrupted. Female rats had a higher adrenal weight as compared with male rats independently of experimental groups and exhibited a higher concentration of serum triglycerides (n=8, P<0.001). The study indicates possible phenotypic adjustments in the structure of feeding behavior promoted by maternal separation, especially in the dark cycle. The dissociation between the mother’s presence and milk intake probably induces adjustments in feeding behavior during adulthood.

Hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia and hyperhomocysteinemia are associated with both adult cardiovascular disease (CVD) and having a child with a congenital heart disease (CHD). We investigated associations between CVD in grandparents and the risk of CHD in grandchildren. In a case–control family study, we obtained detailed questionnaire information on CVD and CHD in 247 families with a CHD child and 203 families without a CHD child. Grandparents with CVD or intermittent claudication (IC) were significantly associated with an increased risk for CHD in grandchildren [OR 1.39 (95% CI 1.03–1.89) and OR 2.77 (95% CI 1.02–7.56), respectively]. The risk of CHD grandchildren was particularly increased in paternal grandfathers with CVD [OR 1.85 (95% CI 1.01–3.37)]. Overall, having a grandparent with CVD increased the risk for CHD in the grandchild by 1.65 (95% CI 1.12–2.41). After adjustment for potential maternal confounders, this risk was 1.44 (95% CI 0.94–2.21). Having two or more grandparents with CVD was associated with an approximately threefold risk for CHD grandchildren [OR adjusted 2.72 (95% CI 1.08–6.89)]. Our data suggest that CVD and IC in grandparents are associated with an increased risk of having a CHD grandchild. These first findings may be explained by shared causality of derangements in metabolic pathways and are in line with the fetal origins of health and disease.

Maternal high-fat diet consumption and obesity have been shown to program long-term obesity and lead to impaired glucose tolerance in offspring. Many rodent studies, however, use non-purified, cereal-based diets as the control for purified high-fat diets. In this study, primiparous ICR mice were fed purified control diet (10–11 kcal% from fat of lard or butter origin) and lard (45 or 60 kcal% fat) or butter (32 or 60 kcal% fat)-based high-fat diets for 4 weeks before mating, throughout pregnancy, and for 2 weeks of nursing. Before mating, female mice fed the 32 and 60% butter-based high-fat diets exhibited impaired glucose tolerance but those females fed the lard-based diets showed normal glucose disposal following a glucose challenge. High-fat diet consumption by female mice of all groups decreased lean to fat mass ratios during the 4th week of diet treatment compared with those mice consuming the 10–11% fat diets. All females were bred to male mice and pregnancy and offspring outcomes were monitored. The body weight of pups born to 45% lard-fed dams was significantly increased before weaning, but only female offspring born to 32% butter-fed dams exhibited long-term body weight increases. Offspring glucose tolerance and body composition were measured for at least 1 year. Minimal, if any, differences were observed in the offspring parameters. These results suggest that many variables should be considered when designing future high-fat diet feeding and maternal obesity studies in mice.

It has been suggested that in addition to genetic factors, fetal and post-natal growth influence cognition in early adulthood. However, most studies have been in developed populations, so it is unclear if the same findings would be seen in other, less developed, settings, and have used testing tools not applicable to an Australia Aboriginal population. This study investigated the relationships between cognitive function in early adulthood and birth weight and contemporary height. Simple reaction time (SRT), choice reaction time (CRT) and working memory (WM) were assessed using the CogState battery. A significant association was seen between birth weight and SRT in early adulthood, but not with the other two cognitive measures. Urban dwellers had significantly shorter SRT and CRT than their remote counterparts. Contemporary body mass index and maternal age were associated with CRT. Only fetal growth restriction was associated with WM, with greater WM in those with restricted growth. No associations were seen with contemporary height. These results suggest that fetal growth may be more important than the factors influencing post-natal growth in terms of cognition in early adulthood in this population, but that the associations may be inconsistent between cognitive outcomes. Further research is required to identify whether similar associations are seen in other, similar, populations and to assess why differences in cognitive outcome measures are seen.

The main role of early nutritional programming in the current rise of obesity and associated diseases is well known. However, translational studies are mostly based in postnatal food excess and, thus, there is a paucity of information on the phenotype of individuals with prenatal deficiencies but adequate postnatal conditions. Thus, we assessed the effects of prenatal programming (comparing descendants from females fed with a diet fulfilling 100 or only 50% of their nutritional requirements for pregnancy) on gene expression, patterns of growth and fattening, metabolic status and puberty attainment of a swine model of obesity/leptin resistance with controlled postnatal nutrition and opportunity of exercise. Maternal restriction was related to changes in the relationships among gene expression of positive (insulin-like growth factors 1 and 2) and negative (myostatin) regulators of muscle growth, with negative correlations in gilts from restricted pregnancies and positive relationships in the control group. In spite of these differences, the patterns of growth and fattening and the metabolic features during juvenile growth were similar in control gilts and gilts from restricted pregnancies. Concomitantly, there was a lack of differences in the timing of puberty attainment. However, after reaching puberty and adulthood, females from restricted pregnancies were heavier and more corpulent than control gilts, though such increases in weight and size were not accompanied by increases in adiposity. In conclusion, in spite of changes in gene expression induced by developmental programming, the propensity for higher weight and adiposity of individuals exposed to prenatal malnutrition may be modulated by controlled food intake and opportunity of physical exercise during infant and juvenile development.

Few studies have investigated the impact of lifestyle interventions during pregnancy on post-partum weight retention and infant growth. Thirty seven previously non-exercising, overweight or obese pregnant women were randomly assigned to a walking intervention or non-intervention control. For the follow-up study, weight of the mother and weight, length and body composition of the infant were collected at 1 month post-partum (n=37) and 6 months post-partum (n=33). Analysis of variance and linear regression were conducted to determine the differences and association in maternal post-partum weight retention and child outcomes. At 6 months post-partum, weight retention of obese women in the intervention group (Int-OB) was −0.10±8.11 kg; while, obese women in the control group (Con-OB) was 6.35±7.47 kg. A significantly higher percentage of Con-OB women retained more than 5 kg at 6 months post-partum (P=0.046). Even though statistically non-significant between the groups, the growth trend observed among offspring of obese women in the control group was consistently higher than the offspring of obese women in the intervention group from birth to 6-months. Third trimester gestational weight gain rate significantly predicted 6-m weight-for-length z-score after controlling for birth weight, treatment group and pre-pregnancy body mass index (r2=0.31, β=1.75, P=0.03). The reduced post-partum weight retention observed among the obese women in the intervention group may be explained in part by the lifestyle modification during pregnancy.