New round of sleep discovery explains why fatty diets during pregnancy that obese children

PharmaLive.com (23 November 2010) - the link between sleep and obesity is drawn more rigorous as new research published online in the newspaper of FASEB study shows what your mother ate when she was pregnant can get obese or overweight by altering the function of genes (epigenetic changes) that regulate circadian rhythm. In the report, pregnant females primates eating a diet rich in fat altered function of fetal genes that regulate circadian rhythm (including the appetite and food) for development. The offspring had non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

"It is our hope that our studies will continue to guide research to understand the crucial role of maternal health in the direction of the health of the next generation," says Kjersti Aagaard-Tillery, MD, Dr., researcher involved in the work in the Department of obstetrics and Gynecology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. ""We are excited that our research will give hope that even small changes such as improved nutrition during pregnancy and breastfeeding, will result in a lower chance of obesity in our next generation."

To make this discovery, Aagaard-Tillery and his colleagues studied three groups of Japanese macaque primates. A group was submitted to a 12 per cent fat diet (control group). The second group was fed a 35 percent fat or a diet high in fat and the third group was fed the rich fat for a maximum period of five years and switching then return to the control diet. Each group maintained their specific diet prior to conception and throughout pregnancy. Descendants of the developed fatty group of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease has known changes in histone (all of the protein that DNA dress) and had amended the metabolic profiles and circadian rhythms.Results showed also that in the fetal liver genes that are responsible for the orchestration of circadian rhythms with appetite and food are altered in the offspring of mothers graisse.Plus precisely-rich diet, one of these genes, known as Npas2, is a key to the circadian system controller and is itself governed by changes in fetal histone code. Scientists have found that improving the diet, for the parent compound, or if you are breastfeeding, or to the child after birth, helps restore partially circadian machinery back to normal, possibly reduce the risk of childhood obesity-related diseases.

"We have recently published a number of studies in the FASEB journal showing what a mother eats affects the weight of her children throughout their lives," said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., editor in Chief of the FASEB Journal. "Now we know why and what a wakeup call for pregnant women! food to the mother during pregnancy affects sleep machines their children through genetic mechanisms that control sommeil.Enfants cycle are literally forced to sleep in the proverbial have done their mother's bed.»
Editor's note: this article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
Source of the story:

The story above is reproduced (with drafting adaptations by staff at PharmaLive.com) materials provided by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Reference of the review:
Mr. Suter, P. Bocock, l. Showalter, Mr. Hu, Shope v., r. McKnight, k., k. Grove, r. Lane, Aagaard-TilleryPlease: hyperlipidique maternal exposure in utero disrupts the expression of genes circadian device non-human primates.the journal FASEB, 2010; DOI: 10.1096/fj.10-172080
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited for this.

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