Maternal obesity during pregnancy is associated with lower cortical thickness in the newborn brain

Authors: NA, XIAOXU - University Arkansas For Medical Sciences (UAMS); PHELAN, NATALIE - University Arkansas For Medical Sciences (UAMS); TADROS, MARINNA - University Arkansas For Medical Sciences (UAMS); ANDRES, ALINE - Arkansas Children'S Nutrition Research Center (ACNC); Badger, Thomas; GLASIER, CHARLES - University Arkansas For Medical Sciences (UAMS); RAMAKRISHNAIAH, RAGHU - University Arkansas For Medical Sciences (UAMS); ROWELL, AMY - University Arkansas For Medical Sciences (UAMS); WANG, LI - North Carolina State University; LI, GANG - North Carolina State University; WU, ZHENGWANG - North Carolina State University; WILLIAMS, DAVID - University Arkansas For Medical Sciences (UAMS); OU, XIAWEI - University Arkansas For Medical Sciences (UAMS)

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/24/2021
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: This study examined the relationships between maternal obesity during pregnancy and newborn's brain cortical development. Healthy normal weight and obese pregnant women were recruited at early pregnancy and their newborns underwent a brain MRI examination at 2 weeks of age. Structural MR images of the brain were post-processed to reconstruct cortical surfaces, and mean cortical thickness in different brain regions was measured. Significant differences in cortical thickness between infants born to normal weight vs. obese mothers were found in multiple brain regions, and negative correlations between maternal body fat mass percentage and infant cortical thickness were also observed, suggesting impact of maternal obesity during pregnancy on offspring brain cortical development.