Sexual dimorphic gene expression profile of perirenal adipose tissue in ovine fetuses with growth restriction

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

Worldwide, fetal growth restriction (FGR) affects 7%-10% of pregnancies, or roughly 20.5 million infants, each year. FGR increases not only neonatal mortality and morbidity but also the risk of obesity in later life. Currently, the molecular mechanisms by which FGR "programs" an obese phenotype are not well understood. Studies demonstrate that FGR females are more prone to obesity compared to males; however, the molecular mechanisms that lead to the sexually dimorphic programming of FGR are not known. Thus, we hypothesized that FGR leads to the sexually dimorphic programming of preadipocytes and reduces their ability to differentiate into mature adipocytes. To test the hypothesis, we utilized a maternal hyperthermia-induced placental insufficiency to restrict fetal growth in sheep. We collected perirenal adipose tissue from near-term (∼140 days gestation) male and female FGR and normal-weight fetal lambs ( N = 4 to 5 in each group), examined the preadipocytes' differentiation potential, and identified differential mRNA transcript expression in perirenal adipose tissue. Male FGR fetuses have a lower cellular density (nuclei number/unit area) compared to control male fetuses. However, no difference was observed in female FGR fetuses compared to control female fetuses. In addition, the ability of preadipocytes to differentiate into mature adipocytes with fat accumulation was impai

Evidence level

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

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