The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

The placental exposome: placental determinants of fetal adiposity and postnatal body composition

The placental exposome: placental determinants of fetal adiposity and postnatal body composition
The placental exposome: placental determinants of fetal adiposity and postnatal body composition
Offspring of obese and diabetic mothers are at increased risk of being born with excess adiposity as a consequence of their intrauterine environment. Excessive fetal fat accretion reflects additional placental nutrient transfer, suggesting an effect of the maternal environment on placental function. High plasma levels of particular nutrients in obese and diabetic mothers are likely to be the important drivers of nutrient transfer to the fetus, resulting in excess fat accretion. However, not all offspring of obese and diabetic mothers are born large for gestational age and the explanation may involve the regulation of placental nutrient transfer required for fetal growth. The placenta integrates maternal and fetal signals across gestation in order to determine nutrient transfer rate. Understanding the nature of these signals and placental responses to them is key to understanding the pathology of both fetal growth restriction and macrosomia. The overall effects of the maternal environment on the placenta are the product of its exposures throughout gestation, the 'placental exposome'. Understanding these environmental influences is important as exposures early in gestation, for instance causing changes in the function of genes involved in nutrient transfer, may determine how the placenta will respond to exposures later in gestation, such as to raised maternal plasma glucose or lipid concentrations. Longitudinal studies are required which allow investigation of the influences on the placenta across gestation. These studies need to make full use of developing technologies characterising placental function, fetal growth and body composition. Understanding these processes will assist in the development of preventive strategies and treatments to optimise prenatal growth in those pregnancies at risk of either excess or insufficient nutrient supply and could also reduce the risk of chronic disease in later life.
0250-6807
208-215
Lewis, R.M.
caaeb97d-ea69-4f7b-8adb-5fa25e2d3502
Demmelmair, H.
5f090572-168a-4f1b-9b28-9262093668b9
Gaillard, R.
c27019e7-cd89-49af-9e57-6f88d9cadda5
Godfrey, K.M.
0931701e-fe2c-44b5-8f0d-ec5c7477a6fd
Hauguel-de Mouzon, S.
09cf770e-f711-43b6-9e69-ac95f1aa1930
Huppertz, B.
e752a837-419d-48ab-846b-cf14ec7a6578
Larque, E.
e9e8d102-3329-4f10-b6d3-f4fe1ef59493
Saffrey, R.
2a89d897-0852-4642-8414-b128b40f2b93
Symmonds, M.E.
89faa20f-cc39-4236-8cfe-7f591a23d381
Desoye, G.
34a61ad7-4250-484e-a5ce-dbb980eee8cc
Lewis, R.M.
caaeb97d-ea69-4f7b-8adb-5fa25e2d3502
Demmelmair, H.
5f090572-168a-4f1b-9b28-9262093668b9
Gaillard, R.
c27019e7-cd89-49af-9e57-6f88d9cadda5
Godfrey, K.M.
0931701e-fe2c-44b5-8f0d-ec5c7477a6fd
Hauguel-de Mouzon, S.
09cf770e-f711-43b6-9e69-ac95f1aa1930
Huppertz, B.
e752a837-419d-48ab-846b-cf14ec7a6578
Larque, E.
e9e8d102-3329-4f10-b6d3-f4fe1ef59493
Saffrey, R.
2a89d897-0852-4642-8414-b128b40f2b93
Symmonds, M.E.
89faa20f-cc39-4236-8cfe-7f591a23d381
Desoye, G.
34a61ad7-4250-484e-a5ce-dbb980eee8cc

Lewis, R.M., Demmelmair, H., Gaillard, R., Godfrey, K.M., Hauguel-de Mouzon, S., Huppertz, B., Larque, E., Saffrey, R., Symmonds, M.E. and Desoye, G. (2013) The placental exposome: placental determinants of fetal adiposity and postnatal body composition. Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism, 63 (3), 208-215. (doi:10.1159/000355222). (PMID:24107818)

Record type: Review

Abstract

Offspring of obese and diabetic mothers are at increased risk of being born with excess adiposity as a consequence of their intrauterine environment. Excessive fetal fat accretion reflects additional placental nutrient transfer, suggesting an effect of the maternal environment on placental function. High plasma levels of particular nutrients in obese and diabetic mothers are likely to be the important drivers of nutrient transfer to the fetus, resulting in excess fat accretion. However, not all offspring of obese and diabetic mothers are born large for gestational age and the explanation may involve the regulation of placental nutrient transfer required for fetal growth. The placenta integrates maternal and fetal signals across gestation in order to determine nutrient transfer rate. Understanding the nature of these signals and placental responses to them is key to understanding the pathology of both fetal growth restriction and macrosomia. The overall effects of the maternal environment on the placenta are the product of its exposures throughout gestation, the 'placental exposome'. Understanding these environmental influences is important as exposures early in gestation, for instance causing changes in the function of genes involved in nutrient transfer, may determine how the placenta will respond to exposures later in gestation, such as to raised maternal plasma glucose or lipid concentrations. Longitudinal studies are required which allow investigation of the influences on the placenta across gestation. These studies need to make full use of developing technologies characterising placental function, fetal growth and body composition. Understanding these processes will assist in the development of preventive strategies and treatments to optimise prenatal growth in those pregnancies at risk of either excess or insufficient nutrient supply and could also reduce the risk of chronic disease in later life.

Text
Placenta Early Nutrition_Workshop review - revised version-1.doc - Author's Original
Download (4MB)

More information

e-pub ahead of print date: 8 October 2013
Published date: December 2013
Organisations: Faculty of Medicine

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 359455
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/359455
ISSN: 0250-6807
PURE UUID: 40d814f9-2065-474e-be9d-dc2ec5090b60
ORCID for R.M. Lewis: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-4044-9104
ORCID for K.M. Godfrey: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-4643-0618

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 04 Nov 2013 13:30
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:10

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: R.M. Lewis ORCID iD
Author: H. Demmelmair
Author: R. Gaillard
Author: K.M. Godfrey ORCID iD
Author: S. Hauguel-de Mouzon
Author: B. Huppertz
Author: E. Larque
Author: R. Saffrey
Author: M.E. Symmonds
Author: G. Desoye

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×