Division of Endocrinology, Department of Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA.
Diabetes and Obesity Research Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA.
Int J Obes (Lond). 2021 Jun;45(6):1310-1320. doi: 10.1038/s41366-021-00794-6. Epub 2021 Mar 17.
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: With rising obesity rates among pregnant women, more children are exposed in utero to maternal obesity. In prior epidemiological studies, exposure to maternal obesity was associated with lower intelligence quotient (IQ) scores and worse cognitive abilities in offspring. Further studies have shown that offspring exposed to maternal obesity, exhibit differences in the white matter microstructure properties, fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD). In contrast, physical activity was shown to improve cognition and white matter microstructure during childhood. We examined if child physical activity levels modify the relationship between prenatal exposure to maternal obesity with IQ and white matter microstructure in offspring.
SUBJECTS/METHODS: One hundred children (59% girls) age 7-11 years underwent brain magnetic resonance imaging and IQ testing. Maternal pre-pregnancy BMI was abstracted from electronic medical records. White matter was assessed using diffusion tensor imaging with the measures, global FA, MD. The 3-day physical activity recall was used to measure moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and vigorous physical activity (VPA). Linear regression was used to test for interactions between prenatal exposure to maternal overweight/obesity and child PA levels on child IQ and global FA/MD.
The relationship between prenatal exposure to maternal overweight/obesity and child IQ and global FA varied by child VPA levels. Children exposed to mothers with overweight/obesity who engaged in more VPA had higher IQ scores and global FA compared to exposed children who engaged in less VPA. Associations were independent of child age, sex, BMI Z-score and socioeconomic status. Children born to normal-weight mothers did not differ in either IQ or global FA by time in VPA.
Our findings support findings in rodent models and suggest that VPA during childhood modifies the relationship between prenatal exposure to maternal obesity and child IQ and white matter microstructure.
背景/目的：随着孕妇肥胖率的上升，越来越多的胎儿在子宫内接触到母体肥胖。在先前的流行病学研究中，暴露于母体肥胖与后代的智商（IQ）分数较低和认知能力较差有关。进一步的研究表明，暴露于母体肥胖的后代在白质微观结构特性、分数各向异性（FA）和平均扩散系数（MD）方面存在差异。相比之下，运动已被证明可以在儿童期改善认知和白质微观结构。我们研究了儿童体育活动水平是否会改变产前暴露于母体肥胖与后代 IQ 和白质微观结构之间的关系。
受试者/方法：100 名 7-11 岁的儿童（59%为女孩）接受了脑部磁共振成像和 IQ 测试。从电子病历中提取母亲怀孕前的 BMI。使用弥散张量成像评估白质，指标包括全脑 FA、MD。使用 3 天体力活动回忆法测量中等至剧烈体力活动和剧烈体力活动（VPA）。线性回归用于检验产前暴露于母亲超重/肥胖与儿童 PA 水平之间对儿童 IQ 和全脑 FA/MD 的交互作用。
产前暴露于母亲超重/肥胖与儿童 IQ 和全脑 FA 的关系因儿童 VPA 水平而异。暴露于超重/肥胖母亲的儿童，如果进行更多的 VPA，其 IQ 得分和全脑 FA 比进行较少 VPA 的暴露儿童更高。这些关联独立于儿童年龄、性别、BMI Z 评分和社会经济地位。出生于正常体重母亲的儿童，无论 VPA 时间长短，其 IQ 或全脑 FA 均无差异。
我们的研究结果支持了啮齿动物模型的研究结果，并表明儿童期的 VPA 改变了产前暴露于母亲肥胖与儿童 IQ 和白质微观结构之间的关系。
