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Experimental Models of Maternal Obesity and High-Fat Diet During Pregnancy and Programmed Obesity in the Offspring

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Obesity Before Birth

Part of the book series: Endocrine Updates ((ENDO,volume 30))

Abstract

Over the past three decades, the worldwide burden of obesity and associated metabolic and cardiovascular disease has increased significantly. In addition to adult lifestyle risk factors it is becoming increasingly apparent that exposure to a suboptimal environment during in utero and early postnatal developmental critical windows can result in an elevated propensity to develop obesity and related diseases. Studies in rodents, sheep, and non-human primates offer evidence that maternal obesity and consumption of a high-fat diet during pregnancy and sucking can program alterations to fetal and neonatal development. This drives a phenotype of obesity, metabolic and cardiovascular disease, and disturbances in hypothalamic control of appetite and sympathetic nervous system activity. Here we discuss the relative importance of maternal obesity and dietary manipulation drawing from studies in a range of animal models.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neuropharmacology Laboratory, Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Larissa Jane Prior & Geoffrey Albert Head

  2. Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, School of Biomedical Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, 3800, Australia

    James Andrew Armitage

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  1. Larissa Jane Prior
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  2. Geoffrey Albert Head
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  3. James Andrew Armitage
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Correspondence to James Andrew Armitage .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Director, Weight Assessment for Teen and, Division of Endocrinology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, 94143, USA

    Robert H Lustig

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Prior, L.J., Head, G.A., Armitage, J.A. (2011). Experimental Models of Maternal Obesity and High-Fat Diet During Pregnancy and Programmed Obesity in the Offspring. In: Lustig, R. (eds) Obesity Before Birth. Endocrine Updates, vol 30. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-7034-3_12

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