Introduction: Gestational under nutrition in rats has been shown to decrease expression of sympathetic innervation markers in peripheral tissues of offspring, including the stomach. This has been linked to lower gastric secretion and decreased circulating levels of ghrelin. Considering the critical role of leptin intake during lactation in preventing obesity and reversing adverse developmental ...

The prevalence of obesity among pregnant women is increasing. Evidence from human cohort studies and experimental animals suggests that offspring cardiovascular and metabolic function is compromised through early life exposure to maternal obesity. Previously, we reported that juvenile offspring of obese rats develop sympathetically mediated hypertension associated with neonatal hyperleptinemia....

Suboptimal developmental environments program offspring to lifelong metabolic problems. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of protein restriction in pregnancy on maternal liver lipid metabolism at 19 days of gestation (dG) and its effect on fetal brain development. Control (C) and restricted (R) mothers were fed with isocaloric diets containing 20 and 10% of casein. At 19 dG, mat...

Maternal obesity influence the child's long-term development and health. Though, the mechanism concerned in this process is still uncertain. In the present study, we explored whether overfeeding of a high-fat diet during pregnancy in female rats altered metabolic phenotypes in an F1 generation and authenticated the contribution of hypothalamic leptin signaling. Leptin responsiveness and the num...

Maternal obesity and genetic background can affect the development of obesity and diabetes in offspring. Here we used selected strains of rats resistant (DR) vs. susceptible to development of diet-induced obesity (DIO) on high-energy (HE) diets to assess this issue. DR and DIO dams were fed either Chow or HE diet for 4 wk. DIO HE diet-fed dams and additional DR rats fed a palatable liquid diet ...

Studies have suggested associations between maternal obesity and mental health problems of their children. However, the underlying mechanism is largely unknown. A possible mechanism can be via inflammatory states and the other possible mechanism is metabolic hormone-induced programming. Cross-talk between adipokines, including inflammatory cytokines and metabolic hormones secreted from adipose ...

To investigate gender differences, if any, in leptin concentrations from umbilical cord blood of new born infants of mothers with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM), gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), and Non diabetic (ND) at delivery. Serum leptin concentrations were measured in 105 newborns (53 males and 52 females in the three groups). Blood was taken from the umbilical cord of the babies at de...

The cytokine receptors for growth hormone (GH), prolactin and leptin have a critical role in regulating embryo, placental and/or fetal development, which is dependent on stage of gestation and species. GH and prolactin receptors are detectable from conception, and alterations in the maternal hormonal environment may impact on placental growth from this early stage of gestation. Leptin is critic...

BACKGROUND Our objective was to evaluate changes in serum leptin levels during pregnancy in overweight/obese and non-obese women and to assess total and percent weight gain during pregnancy as possible factors that influence leptin levels. MATERIAL AND METHODS In a prospective study of 42 low-risk pregnant women receiving prenatal care, we assessed serum leptin levels at gestational weeks 9-1...

OBJECTIVE Intensified management of gestational diabetes mellitus can normalize birth weight. However, it is still unknown whether intrauterine exposure to maternal diabetes is a risk factor for changing hormone levels involved in the development of insulin resistance in these infants. We compared insulin and leptin levels in appropriate for gestational age (AGA) infants of diabetic and non dia...