Comparison between placental gene expression of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases and infantile growth at 10 months of age.

Aim: The local expression of two isoenzymes of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase, type 1 (11βHSD-1) and type 2 (11βHSD-2), regulates the access of glucocorticoid hormones to their target cells. Reports on the association between the placental expression of 11βHSD and infantile growth are limited. The aim of the present study was to investigate if the placental gene expression of 11βHSD affects infantile growth at 10 months of age.

Changes of maternal dietary intake, bodyweight and fetal growth throughout pregnancy in pregnant Japanese women.

Aim: The associations among changes in dietary intake, maternal bodyweight, and fetal growth during the course of pregnancy were investigated in a prospective cohort study carried out on 135 Japanese women.

Material And Methods: Dietary intake was analyzed using digital photos of meals taken over 3 consecutive days, in the first, second and third trimester, and was compared with maternal bodyweight, estimated fetal bodyweight by ultrasound examination, and birthweight.

Results: Surprisingly, the mean total calorie intake remained below 1600 kcal/day during pregnancy, much lower than the value recommended in the 2010 edition of 'Dietary Reference Intakes for Japanese'.

Association between body weight at weaning and remodeling in the subcutaneous adipose tissue of obese adult mice with undernourishment in utero.

Rapid growth in infancy considerably increases the risk of obesity and metabolic disorders in adulthood especially among neonates born small. To investigate the mechanism involved, we developed an animal model of undernourishment in utero by maternal caloric restriction, in which the Z scores of body weight at weaning (19.5 days) positively correlated with parameters of obesity, metabolic disorders, and remodeling of subcutaneous adipose tissue, such as numbers of macrophages in adipose tissue, the ratio of inflammatory M1 to anti-inflammatory M2 macrophages, estimated by gene expression of specific antigens, and the relative ratio of small adipocytes less than 30 μm in diameter, on a high-fat diet at 17 weeks of age.