The Effect of Obesity on Foetal Brain Development

This week in San Francisco, California, researchers from Tufts Medical Centre will present findings showing the effects of maternal obesity on a foetus, specifically in the development of the brain. As readers of this blog know, at Bellamy’s Organic we are vitally interested in promoting healthy mindful eating for both mothers and babies. This study makes sobering reading of the potential effects of obesity on the foetal brain and it is something of which we all need to be aware.

Foetal Development

The study, conducted at the Mother Infant Research Institute (MIRI) at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, US, looked at the foetal development of 16 pregnant women, eight obese and eight lean, to see what effects maternal obesity had on foetal gene expression. Researchers have found that foetuses of obese women had differences in gene expression as early as the second trimester, compared to foetuses of women who were a healthy weight. Of particular note were patterns of gene expression suggestive of abnormal brain development in foetuses of obese women.

During gestation, foetuses go through apoptosis, a developmental process of programmed cell death. However, foetuses of the obese women were observed to have decreased apoptosis, which is an important part of normal foetal neurodevelopment. Dr. Diana Bianchi, senior author of the study and executive director of MIRI, describes apoptosis as a pruning process, clearing out space for new growth.

Brain Development in Children

“Women won’t be surprised to hear being obese while pregnant can lead to obesity in the child,” said Dr. Andrea Edlow, lead author of the study and fellow in Maternal-Fetal Medicine at Tufts Medical Center. “But what might surprise them is the potential effect it has on the brain development of their unborn child.”

It is too early to know the implications of their findings, but maternal obesity is a rapidly growing problem in the U.S. (and in Australia) with one in three women in the US being obese at conception. The conclusion of the study points to the role of gene expression studies such as this one in helping clarify possible mechanisms for recently-described postnatal neurodevelopmental abnormalities in children of obese women, including increased rates of autism and altered hypothalamic appetite regulation.

The research team hopes their findings and any future data will push women looking to become pregnant to be healthier, minimising risk to their child. Drs. Bianchi and Edlow, say the next step in their research will be to use a mouse model to examine the genes that are differentially expressed in foetuses of obese women, genes that may be involved in abnormal foetal neurodevelopment.