Maternal consumption of a Western-style weight loss program alters the transcriptional panorama of fetal blood stem cells in rhesus macaques, researchers report November 3rd within the journal Stem Cell Studies.
“This discovery is the primary demonstration in primates that maternal unhealthy weight loss program and weight problems disrupt the immune system within the growing fetus,” says Oleg Varlamov of the Oregon Nationwide Primate Analysis Middle. “The primary implication of this examine is that maternal weight problems could affect the event of the fetal bone marrow and fetal immune system.”
Pre-pregnancy weight problems is related to an elevated danger of an infection and aberrant inflammatory responses within the offspring, however the underlying mechanisms stay largely unknown. Particularly, little or no is thought concerning the impact of a Western-style weight loss program on fetal hematopoiesis — the formation of blood mobile parts — in animal fashions that resemble human growth.
Throughout late growth, the fetal bone marrow turns into the key web site the place immune cells referred to as macrophages and B-lymphocytes are produced by way of differentiation of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs). Within the new examine, Varlamov and his collaborators analyzed the transcriptional panorama of fetal bone marrow HSPCs at single-cell decision in fetal macaques uncovered to a maternal high-fat, Western-style weight loss program or a low-fat management weight loss program.
“We had been motivated to analyze how maternal weight problems impacts the fetal immune system throughout being pregnant in nonhuman primates, representing probably the most related animal mannequin for finding out human growth,” Varlamov says.
The outcomes demonstrated {that a} Western-style weight loss program induced a hyperinflammatory response in HSPCs and fetal macrophages and suppressed the expression of B-cell growth genes. Furthermore, the unhealthy weight loss program led to poor engraftment of fetal HSPCs in immunodeficient mice.
“Maternal weight problems drastically impacted the flexibility of fetal blood stem cells to supply B-lymphocytes — immune cells that make antibodies in response to an infection — and made fetal blood stem cells extra infected,” Varlamov says.
Examine limitations included the small pattern dimension, which could restrict the flexibility to detect weaker results of maternal weight loss program on fetal outcomes. As well as, the researchers did not discover the consequences of maternal weight problems on postnatal growth and solely targeted on prenatal growth. Additional research are additionally wanted to check whether or not maternal weight problems disrupts offspring responses to an infection and irritation.
“This examine units the stage for understanding the hyperlink between maternal weight problems, prenatal vitamin, and illnesses involving immune progeny of the HSPC compartment in youngsters and highlights the necessity to higher perceive the susceptibility of the growing hematopoietic system to metabolic dysregulation over the lifetime,” Varlamov says.
This examine was supported by the Nationwide Institutes of Well being.
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