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Abstract Details
Exposure to maternal fuels during pregnancy and offspring hepatic fat in early childhood: The healthy start study
Pediatr Obes. 2022 Feb 5;e12902. doi: 10.1111/ijpo.12902. Online ahead of print.
Catherine C Cohen12, Ellen C Francis2, Wei Perng234, Katherine A Sauder12, Ann Scherzinger5, Shikha S Sundaram1, Kartik Shankar12, Dana Dabelea123
Author information
1Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado, USA.
2Lifecourse Epidemiology of Adiposity and Diabetes (LEAD) Center, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado, USA.
3Department of Epidemiology, Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado, USA.
4Department of Nutritional Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
5Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado, USA.
Abstract
Background: Intrauterine overnutrition has been associated with paediatric nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), but the exact mechanisms involved remain unclear.
Objective: To examine whether maternal fuels and metabolic markers during pregnancy are associated with offspring hepatic fat in childhood.
Methods: This analysis included 286 mother-child pairs from the Healthy Start Study, a longitudinal pre-birth cohort in Colorado. Fasting blood draws were collected in early pregnancy (~17 weeks) and mid-pregnancy (~27 weeks). Offspring hepatic fat was assessed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at ~5 years.
Results: In early pregnancy, maternal triglycerides (TGs) and free fatty acids (FFAs) were positively associated with offspring hepatic fat [Back-transformed β (95% CI): 1.15 (1.05, 1.27) per 1 standard deviation (SD) TGs; 1.14 (1.05, 1.23) per 1 SD FFAs]. Maternal total cholesterol (TC) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) were also associated with offspring hepatic fat, but only among boys [1.22 (1.08, 1.37) per 1 SD TC; 1.21 (1.07, 1.37) per 1 SD LDL-C]. In mid-pregnancy, only maternal TGs remained associated with offspring hepatic fat. Adjusting for potential confounders or mediators did not affect associations.
Conclusions: Maternal lipid concentrations, especially in early pregnancy, are associated with higher offspring hepatic fat, and may, therefore, be targeted in future interventions among pregnant women.