Children born of pregnant mothers are at greater risk of becoming overweight later in life.
This may be because the children inherit special obesity or an unhealthy lifestyle from the mother, but there seems to be another physiological piece in the puzzle.
By means of tests on mice, Danish researchers believe that they have now found this piece, explaining why obesity in pregnant mothers can "infect" the children.
The story short
· Obese people have a weak inflammatory state in the body.
· A new study suggests that this inflammatory condition may be contributing to the fact that children born of obese mothers are more likely to become overweight.
· The study is done on mice and more research is required before one can conclusively determine the context.
"We know that obesity gives a chronic inflammatory condition in the body. Our trial shows that it is this inflammatory state of the pregnant mother, which may cause the next generation to be more likely to become overweight, "says Anete Dudele, postdoctoral at the Department of Clinical Medicine at Aarhus University, and first author of the new study.
Can we prevent obesity in unborn children?
According to a lecturer at the University of Copenhagen, Romain Barrès, the new finding is important because it opens up future opportunities to overcome the inflammatory state of pregnant mothers - thus potentially preventing obesity in the unborn child.
"When you know his enemy, you can do something to fight it. So if you can give the mother a diet that reduces inflammation, you may be able to avoid obesity in the next generation, "says Romain Barrès, who has not been part of the new study, but describes it as" very elegant and well-executed. «
Science has already established that obese people have a small chronic inflammatory state in the body. However, it has not been shown before that it may be this weak inflammation that "infects" the next generation with an increased risk of obesity.
"It is very well documented that you get an inflammation in the fatty tissue when you are overweight. It is an interesting angle that it may be that your children may also become obese, "says Professor Birgitte Holst, who studies obesity at the University of Copenhagen, but has not been part of the new study.
The study is based on museum tests
Why do we get mother's obesity?
According to studies, your innate genes can play a major role in whether you develop obesity or not.
But genes alone can not explain why children of obese mothers tend to obese, Anete Dudele points out.
"An interesting study compares children who were either born before or after their mother received an 'anti-obesity surgery'. '
"The study shows that the mother's weight loss due to the operation meant that children born after surgery had a lower BMI and the incidence of severe obesity was three times lower in these children."
"It therefore shows that in addition to genetic heredity ( for obesity, ed. ), The mother's environment / obesity during pregnancy also has a major impact on children's health," says Dudele.
In addition to a weak inflammatory condition in the fatty tissue, obesity can cause a number of other changes in the body such as elevated blood sugar or hormonal changes.
Potentially, all of these factors could have a finger in the game compared to "infecting" the pregnant mother's fetus with a tendency to obesity.
Therefore, the researchers had to devise a clever experiment to find out exactly which factor in obese mothers that affects the fetus's risk of getting too thick.
"We made an attempt at mice where we could see the effect of the inflammation state at the risk of mice for overweight children. While the mice were pregnant, they got some substances that are very similar to the inflammatory condition seen in obese subjects. That way, we could see the effect of inflammation, "explains Anete Dudele.
This was what the researchers did
She explains that the mice in the trial were divided into three groups:
· Group 1 consisted of overweight pregnant mice.
· Group 2 consisted of pregnant mice that were not overweight. But the scientists artificially made an inflammatory condition in the body of the mice, which corresponds to the inflammatory state of the body on the obese. More precisely, the mice received an inoperative pill, which delivered the drug LPS on a regular basis.
· A control group consisting of pregnant mice who were neither overweight nor pills.
Subsequently, the researchers followed in on how it went for the three different groups of mice and their offspring.
"All three groups of mice got kids, the kids grew up, we gave them a normal diet and all the kids looked normal. The kids from the overweight mothers and from mothers who had artificial inflammation were a little bit bigger than the other kids, but nothing special. So we decided to challenge the kids. We gave them a fat diet, and then suddenly something began to happen, "says Anete Dudele.