Kasandra Blais1, Mélina Arguin2, Catherine Allard2, Myriam Doyon2, Vernon W Dolinsky3, Luigi Bouchard2,4,5, Marie-France Hivert1,2,6,7, Patrice Perron1,2. 1. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Medicine, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada. 2. Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada. 3. Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Children's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. 4. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Biochemistry and Functional Genomics, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada. 5. Department of Medical Biology, CIUSSS of Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Saguenay, Québec, Canada. 6. Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. 7. Diabetes Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Exposure to maternal hyperglycaemia in pregnancy has been associated with childhood obesity. Leptin regulation might be involved in this 'adiposity programming' and may depend on timing of exposure. OBJECTIVES: To investigate associations of maternal glycaemia at different periods in pregnancy with childhood adiposity and leptin levels at 5 years of age. METHODS: In a prospective pre-birth cohort, we measured maternal glucose levels after a 50 g oral glucose challenge test at first trimester (9.8 ± 2.3 weeks) and during a 75 g oral glucose tolerance test at second trimester (26.5 ± 0.9 weeks). We followed up children at 5 years; we measured anthropometry and body composition using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). We measured fasting leptin levels using immunoassays (Luminex) in 328 children. We conducted linear regression analyses, adjusting for potential confounders. RESULTS: Maternal glycaemia at first trimester was associated with childhood leptin levels at 5 years, independently of maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and other confounders (β = .09 ± .04; P = .03). Higher post-load glucose levels at second trimester were associated with greater total body fat percentage measured by DXA (1 hour-glucose: β = .010 ± .004; P = .03 and 2 hours-glucose: β = .016 ± .005; P = .002), but not with leptin levels. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that programming of leptin regulation may be sensitive to maternal hyperglycaemia specifically in early pregnancy.
BACKGROUND: Exposure to maternal hyperglycaemia in pregnancy has been associated with childhood obesity. Leptin regulation might be involved in this 'adiposity programming' and may depend on timing of exposure. OBJECTIVES: To investigate associations of maternal glycaemia at different periods in pregnancy with childhood adiposity and leptin levels at 5 years of age. METHODS: In a prospective pre-birth cohort, we measured maternal glucose levels after a 50 g oral glucose challenge test at first trimester (9.8 ± 2.3 weeks) and during a 75 g oral glucose tolerance test at second trimester (26.5 ± 0.9 weeks). We followed up children at 5 years; we measured anthropometry and body composition using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). We measured fasting leptin levels using immunoassays (Luminex) in 328 children. We conducted linear regression analyses, adjusting for potential confounders. RESULTS: Maternal glycaemia at first trimester was associated with childhood leptin levels at 5 years, independently of maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and other confounders (β = .09 ± .04; P = .03). Higher post-load glucose levels at second trimester were associated with greater total body fat percentage measured by DXA (1 hour-glucose: β = .010 ± .004; P = .03 and 2 hours-glucose: β = .016 ± .005; P = .002), but not with leptin levels. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that programming of leptin regulation may be sensitive to maternal hyperglycaemia specifically in early pregnancy.