Background: Prenatal development is a time when the brain is acutely vulnerable to insult and alteration by environmental factors (e.g., toxins, maternal health). One important risk factor is maternal obesity (Body Mass Index > 30). Recent research indicates that high maternal BMI during pregnancy is associated with increased risk for numerous physical health, cognitive, and mental health problems in offspring across the lifespan. It is possible that heightened maternal prenatal BMI influences the developing brain even before birth.
Methods: The present study examines this possibility at the level of macrocircuitry in the human fetal brain. Using a data-driven strategy for parcellating the brain into subnetworks, we test whether MRI functional connectivity within or between fetal neural subnetworks varies with maternal prenatal BMI in 109 fetuses between the ages of 26 and 39weeks.
Results: We discovered that strength of connectivity between two subnetworks, left anterior insula/inferior frontal gyrus (aIN/IFG) and bilateral prefrontal cortex (PFC), varied with maternal BMI. At the level of individual aIN/IFG-PFC connections, we observed both increased and decreased between-network connectivity with a tendency for increased within-hemisphere connectivity and reduced cross-hemisphere connectivity in higher BMI pregnancies. Maternal BMI was not associated with global differences in network topography based on network-based statistical analyses.
Conclusions: Overall effects were localized in regions that will later support behavioral regulation and integrative processes, regions commonly associated with obesity-related deficits. By establishing onset in neural differences prior to birth, this study supports a model in which maternal BMI-related risk is associated with fetal connectome-level brain organization with implications for offspring long-term cognitive development and mental health.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13301 | DOI Listing |
Medwave
December 2024
Departamento Académico de Ciencias Clínicas, Facultad de Medicina Humana, Universidad Nacional San Luis Gonzaga, Ica, Perú.
Introduction: Maternal mortality remains a significant challenge for public health globally, particularly in developing areas such as Ica, Peru. This study aims to analyze the risk factors contributing to maternal mortality in reference hospitals in Ica during the period of 2010 to 2020.
Methods: A case-control study was conducted, including 49 cases of maternal deaths and 98 controls, applying multivariate logistic regression to analyze data collected from hospital records.
Vet Sci
December 2024
Department of Animal Sciences and Center for Nutrition and Pregnancy, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58108, USA.
Two experiments assessed the effects of providing a vitamin and mineral supplement to gestating beef heifers on concentrations of immunoglobulins (Ig) in colostrum and calf serum 24 h after feeding maternal colostrum (Exp. 1) or a colostrum-replacement product (Exp. 2).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMed Sci (Basel)
December 2024
Department of Perinatology, Ege University, İzmir 35000, Turkey.
Objective: This study aims to investigate the possible effects of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) on fetal heart structure and the relationship of this effect with maternal blood sugar control.
Materials And Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 19 women with GDM at 24-36 weeks of gestation (case group) and 21 healthy pregnant women at the same weeks of gestation (control group) were examined. Fetal heart structure was evaluated by ultrasonography; interventricular septum (IVS) thickness, right and left ventricular sphericity indices, global sphericity index (GSI) and cardio-thoracic ratio were also measured.
J Xenobiot
December 2024
Faculty of Sciences (FC-UBI), University of Beira Interior, 6201-001 Covilhã, Portugal.
Dibutyl phthalate (DBP) is a low-molecular-weight phthalate commonly found in personal care products, such as perfumes, aftershaves, and nail care items, as well as in children's toys, pharmaceuticals, and food products. It is used to improve flexibility, make polymer products soft and malleable, and as solvents and stabilizers in personal care products. Pregnancy represents a critical period during which both the mother and the developing embryo can be significantly impacted by exposure to endocrine disruptors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Imaging
December 2024
Obstetrics and Gynaecology Unit, Department of Interdisciplinary Medicine (DIM), University of Bari, 70124 Bari, Italy.
This study aimed to evaluate our center's experience in diagnosing and managing placenta accreta spectrum (PAS) in a high-risk population, focusing on prenatal ultrasound features associated with PAS severity and maternal outcomes. We conducted a retrospective analysis of 102 high-risk patients with confirmed placenta previa who delivered at our center between 2018 and 2023. Patients underwent transabdominal and transvaginal ultrasound scans, assessing typical sonographic features.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!