title: Mechanisms by which maternal obesity programs offspring for obesity: evidence from animal studies.
abstract: Maternal obesity can profoundly affect offspring phenotype and predisposition to obesity and metabolic disease. Carefully controlled studies in precocial and altricial mammalian species provide insights into the involved mechanisms. These include programming of hypothalamic appetite-regulating centers to increase orexigenic relative to anorexigenic drive; increasing maternal, fetal, and offspring adrenal and peripheral tissue glucocorticoid production; and increasing maternal oxidative stress. Outcomes often show offspring sex differences that may play a role in the differential susceptibility of males and females to later-life obesity and other related metabolic diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Reproductive Biology, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición, Salvador Zubirán, Mexico.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Zambrano
authors.forename: Peter W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Nathanielsz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D047109:Fetal Development; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D039382:Maternal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000378:metabolism; D011323:Primates; D012377:Rodentia
keywords: altricial mammalian species; maternal obesity; offspring phenotype; offspring programming mechanisms; precocial mammalian species