Diet Induced Maternal Hypercholesterolemia and In Utero Fetal Programming

In recent years, obesity has increased prominently around the world—contributing to both short-term and long-term health effects for women of child bearing age as well as for their offspring. On the basis of data from several epidemiological as well as clinical studies, obesity has been established as a predisposing risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancers. Moreover, obesity during pregnancy is associated with maternal hypercholesterolemia, placental vascular dysfunction, alterations in placental transporters activity, placental inflammation leading to adverse cardio-metabolic profile in childhood. In maternal hypercholesterolemia, the increased transport of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) from mother to fetus via receptors and transporters of syncytiotrophoblasts and placental endothelial cells results in fetal programming that ultimately predispose offspring to atherosclerosis in their adulthood.