High-Fat Diet and Pregnancy: Are You Ready To Take Risks for Your Offspring?

Obesity prevalence is continuously increasing, WHO estimates that 600 million adults worldwide are obese. Obesity is often associated with other metabolic diseases, including diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidemia, grouped by the term metabolic syndrome. The increasing prevalence of metabolic syndrome worldwide represents economic and social concerns, emphasizing the importance of unraveling the physiological deregulations leading to these diseases. It is well established that part of the problem can be explained by over-nutrition, especially in a society where food is abundant and physical activity is decreasing. Numerous animal studies have demonstrated the direct impact of a high fat diet on body weight and the development of insulin resistance and other metabolic disorders. The importance of the hypothalamus as the central integrator of peripheral metabolism has also been widely documented, as the hypothalamic neurons are involved in the control of food intake and energy expenditure (1). Also, genetic studies in humans have identified some mutations in key genes involved in the control of metabolism, including leptin, leptin receptor and MC4R, leading to the development of morbid obesity. However, still, several cases of obesity cannot be explained by over-nutrition, sedentary lifestyle or genetic causes. A growing body of evidence shows that intrauterine and perinatal life could definitely impact our adulthood metabolism. Related to this major concern, in this issue of Endocrinology, a manuscript from Seki et al (2) presents an elegant work that manages to deeper understand the link between maternal nutrition and susceptibility to metabolic diseases. Their results highlight how a maternal high fat diet can potentially contribute to programmed development of metabolic diseases later in life. Indeed, intrauterine life could program metabolism control in adulthood.