| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
|
|
|
|||||||
|
|||||||||
Regular Article |
a Departments of Physiology and
b Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Adelaide University, South Australia 5005, Australia
c Department of Physiology, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales 2351, Australia
In adults, circulating leptin concentrations are dependent on body fat content and on current nutritional status. However, the relationships among maternal nutrient intake, fetal adiposity, and circulating leptin concentrations before birth are unknown. We investigated the effects of an increase in nutrient intake in the pregnant ewe on fetal adiposity and plasma leptin concentrations during late gestation. Between 115 and 139–141 days gestation (term = 147 ± 3 days gestation), ewes were fed a diet calculated to provide either maintenance (control, n = 6) or 
155% of maintenance requirements (well-fed, n = 8). The fetal fat depots (perirenal and interscapular) were dissected, and the relative proportion of unilocular and multilocular adipocytes in each depot was determined. Maternal plasma glucose and leptin concentrations were significantly increased in well-fed ewes. Fetal plasma glucose concentrations were also higher in the well-fed group (115–139 days gestation: control, 1.65 ± 0.14 mmol/L; well-fed, 2.00 ± 0.14 mmol/L; F = 5.76, P < 0.04). There was no effect of increasing maternal feed intake on total fat mass, the relative mass of unilocular fat, or fetal plasma leptin concentrations (115–139 days gestation: control, 5.2 ± 0.8 ng/ml; well-fed, 4.7 ± 0.7 ng/ml). However, in both the control and well-fed groups fetal plasma leptin concentrations (y) were positively correlated with the relative mass of unilocular fat (x): y = 1.51x + 1.70; (R = 0.76, P < 0.01). Thus, fetal leptin may play a role as a signal of unilocular fat mass in the fetus when maternal nutrient intake is at or above maintenance requirements.
1 This work was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council.
2 Correspondence. FAX: 61 8 8 303 3356; caroline.mcmillen{at}adelaide.edu.au
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  A. J. Forhead and A. L. Fowden The hungry fetus? Role of leptin as a nutritional signal before birth J. Physiol., March 15, 2009; 587(6): 1145 - 1152. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 L. K. Philp, B. S. Muhlhausler, A. Janovska, G. A. Wittert, J. A. Duffield, and I. C. McMillen Maternal overnutrition suppresses the phosphorylation of 5'-AMP-activated protein kinase in liver, but not skeletal muscle, in the fetal and neonatal sheep Am J Physiol Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol, December 1, 2008; 295(6): R1982 - R1990. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 L. Attig, J. Djiane, A. Gertler, O. Rampin, T. Larcher, S. Boukthir, P. M. Anton, J. Y. Madec, I. Gourdou, and L. Abdennebi-Najar Study of hypothalamic leptin receptor expression in low-birth-weight piglets and effects of leptin supplementation on neonatal growth and development Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab, November 1, 2008; 295(5): E1117 - E1125. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
C. L. Adam, P. A. Findlay, A. Chanet, R. P. Aitken, J. S. Milne, and J. M. Wallace Expression of energy balance regulatory genes in the developing ovine fetal hypothalamus at midgestation and the influence of hyperglycemia Am J Physiol Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol, June 1, 2008; 294(6): R1895 - R1900. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 B. S. Muhlhausler, J. A. Duffield, and I. C. McMillen Increased Maternal Nutrition Stimulates Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptor-{gamma}, Adiponectin, and Leptin Messenger Ribonucleic Acid Expression in Adipose Tissue before Birth Endocrinology, February 1, 2007; 148(2): 878 - 885. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 B. S. Muhlhausler, C. L. Adam, P. A. Findlay, J. A. Duffield, and I. C. McMillen Increased maternal nutrition alters development of the appetite-regulating network in the brain FASEB J, June 1, 2006; 20(8): 1257 - 1259. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 I C McMillen, L J Edwards, J Duffield, and B S Muhlhausler Regulation of leptin synthesis and secretion before birth: implications for the early programming of adult obesity. Reproduction, March 1, 2006; 131(3): 415 - 427. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
I. C. McMillen, C. L. Adam, and B. S. Muhlhausler Early origins of obesity: programming the appetite regulatory system J. Physiol., May 15, 2005; 565(1): 9 - 17. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
B. S. Muhlhausler, C. L. Adam, E. M. Marrocco, P. A. Findlay, C. T. Roberts, J. R. McFarlane, K. G. Kauter, and I. C. McMillen Impact of glucose infusion on the structural and functional characteristics of adipose tissue and on hypothalamic gene expression for appetite regulatory neuropeptides in the sheep fetus during late gestation J. Physiol., May 15, 2005; 565(1): 185 - 195. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 I. C. Mcmillen and J. S. Robinson Developmental Origins of the Metabolic Syndrome: Prediction, Plasticity, and Programming Physiol Rev, April 1, 2005; 85(2): 571 - 633. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
L. J. Edwards, J. R. McFarlane, K. G. Kauter, and I. C. McMillen Impact of periconceptional nutrition on maternal and fetal leptin and fetal adiposity in singleton and twin pregnancies Am J Physiol Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol, January 1, 2005; 288(1): R39 - R45. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 B.S.J. Yuen, P.C. Owens, M.E. Symonds, D.H. Keisler, J.R. McFarlane, K.G. Kauter, and I.C. McMillen Effects of Leptin on Fetal Plasma Adrenocorticotropic Hormone and Cortisol Concentrations and the Timing of Parturition in the Sheep Biol Reprod, June 1, 2004; 70(6): 1650 - 1657. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 R. A. Ehrhardt, P. L. Greenwood, A. W. Bell, and Y. R. Boisclair Plasma Leptin Is Regulated Predominantly by Nutrition in Preruminant Lambs J. Nutr., December 1, 2003; 133(12): 4196 - 4201. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
B. S. Muhlhausler, C. T. Roberts, B. S. J. Yuen, E. Marrocco, H. Budge, M. E. Symonds, J. R. McFarlane, K. G. Kauter, P. Stagg, J. K. Pearse, et al. Determinants of Fetal Leptin Synthesis, Fat Mass, and Circulating Leptin Concentrations in Well-Nourished Ewes in Late Pregnancy Endocrinology, November 1, 2003; 144(11): 4947 - 4954. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 S. S. Block, J. M. Smith, R. A. Ehrhardt, M. C. Diaz, R. P. Rhoads, M. E. Van Amburgh, and Y. R. Boisclair Nutritional and Developmental Regulation of Plasma Leptin in Dairy Cattle J Dairy Sci, October 1, 2003; 86(10): 3206 - 3214. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. Bispham, G. S. Gopalakrishnan, J. Dandrea, V. Wilson, H. Budge, D. H. Keisler, F. Broughton Pipkin, T. Stephenson, and M. E. Symonds Maternal Endocrine Adaptation throughout Pregnancy to Nutritional Manipulation: Consequences for Maternal Plasma Leptin and Cortisol and the Programming of Fetal Adipose Tissue Development Endocrinology, August 1, 2003; 144(8): 3575 - 3585. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
