Prenatal programming of postnatal obesity: fetal nutrition and the regulation of leptin synthesis and secretion before birth.

Exposure to either an increased or decreased level of intrauterine nutrition can result in an increase in adiposity and in circulating leptin concentrations in later life. In animals such as the sheep and pig in which fat is deposited before birth, leptin is synthesised in fetal adipose tissue and is present in the fetal circulation throughout late gestation. In the sheep a moderate increase or decrease in the level of maternal nutrition does not alter fetal plasma leptin concentrations, but there is evidence that chronic fetal hyperglycaemia and hyperinsulinaemia increase fetal fat mass and leptin synthesis within fetal fat depots. Importantly, there is a positive relationship between the relative mass of the 'unilocular' component of fetal perirenal and interscapular adipose tissue and circulating fetal leptin concentrations in the sheep. Thus, as in the neonate and adult, circulating leptin concentrations may be a signal of fat mass in fetal life. There is also evidence that leptin can act to regulate the lipid storage, leptin synthetic capacity and potential thermogenic functions of fat before birth. Thus, leptin may act as a signal of energy supply and have a 'lipostatic' role before birth. Future studies are clearly required to determine whether the intrauterine and early postnatal nutrient environment programme the endocrine feedback loop between adipose tissue and the central and peripheral neuroendocrine systems that regulate energy balance, resulting in an enhanced risk of obesity in adult life.

Effects of leptin on fetal plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone and cortisol concentrations and the timing of parturition in the sheep.

We investigated whether leptin can suppress the prepartum activation of the fetal hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and delay the timing of parturition in the sheep. First, we investigated the effects of a 4-day intravascular infusion of recombinant ovine leptin (n = 7) or saline (n = 6) on fetal plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and cortisol concentrations, starting from 136 days gestation (i.e., at the onset of the prepartum activation of the fetal HPA axis. The effects of a continuous intrafetal infusion of leptin (n = 7) or saline (n = 5) from 144 days gestation on fetal plasma ACTH and cortisol concentrations and the timing of delivery were also determined in a separate study. There was an increase in fetal plasma ACTH (P < 0.01) and cortisol (P < 0.001) concentrations when saline was infused between 136-137 and 140-141 days gestation. Plasma ACTH and cortisol concentrations did not rise, however, when leptin was infused during this period of gestation. When leptin was infused after 144 days gestation, there was no effect of a 4- to 5-fold increase in circulating leptin on fetal ACTH concentrations. In contrast, leptin infusion from 144 days gestation suppressed (P < 0.05) fetal plasma cortisol concentrations by around 40% between 90 and 42 h before delivery. There was no difference, however, in the length of gestation between the saline- and leptin-infused groups (saline infused, 150.2 +/- 0.5 days; leptin infused, 149.8 +/- 1.0 days). In saline-infused fetuses, there was a significant negative relationship between the plasma concentrations of cortisol (y) and leptin (x) between 138 and 146 days gestation (y = 81.4 - 7.7x, r = 0.38, P < 0.005). This study provides evidence for an endocrine negative feedback loop between leptin and the HPA axis in fetal life.

Determinants of fetal leptin synthesis, fat mass, and circulating leptin concentrations in well-nourished ewes in late pregnancy.

We have investigated the factors regulating leptin synthesis, fat deposition, and circulating leptin concentrations in fetuses of well nourished ewes in late pregnancy. Vascular catheters were surgically inserted in 17 pregnant ewes and their fetuses at 103-120 d gestation (term = 147 +/- 3 d). Ewes were fed a diet providing either 100% (control; n = 9) or approximately 155% (well fed; n = 8) of the maintenance energy requirements and fetal perirenal and interscapular fat depots were collected at 139-141 d gestation. There was a significant relationship between the relative mass of fetal unilocular fat and fetal glucose (relative mass of unilocular fat, 1.14; fetal glucose, +0.16; r = 0.50; P < 0.04; n = 17), but not insulin, concentrations in the control and well-fed groups. In contrast to the controls, there was a positive relationship between the relative abundance of leptin mRNA and fetal insulin, but not glucose, concentrations in fetal perirenal adipose tissue in the well-fed group. A moderate increase in maternal nutrition also resulted in a strong reciprocal relationship between uncoupling protein 1 and leptin expression in fetal perirenal adipose tissue in late gestation (well-fed group: uncoupling protein 1 mRNA:18S rRNA, -0.51; leptin mRNA:beta-actin mRNA, +1.53; r = 0.80; P < 0.02; n = 8). These studies provide evidence that fetal glucose and insulin differentially regulate fetal fat deposition and leptin mRNA expression within the fetal perirenal fat depot in the well nourished animal during late gestation.

Leptin alters the structural and functional characteristics of adipose tissue before birth.

This study aimed to determine for the first time whether leptin can act to alter the structural and functional characteristics of adipose tissue before birth. Leptin (0.48 mg/kg/day) or saline was infused intravenously into fetal sheep for 4 days from either 136 or 137 days of gestation (term=147+/-3 days). Circulating leptin concentrations were increased approximately four- to fivefold by leptin infusion. Leptin infusion resulted in a significant increase in the proportion of smaller lipid locules present within fetal perirenal adipose tissue (PAT), and this was associated with a significant increase in the proportion of multilocular tissue and a significant decrease in the proportion and relative mass of unilocular tissue in fetal PAT. The relative abundance of leptin mRNA in fetal PAT was significantly lower in the leptin-infused group, and there was a positive correlation between the relative abundance of leptin mRNA and the proportion of unilocular adipose tissue in fetal PAT. The amount of uncoupling protein 1 tended to be higher (P=0.06) in leptin-infused compared with saline-infused fetuses. This is the first demonstration that leptin can act to regulate the lipid storage characteristics, leptin synthetic capacity, and potential thermogenic functions of fat before birth.

Circulating leptin concentrations are positively related to leptin messenger RNA expression in the adipose tissue of fetal sheep in the pregnant ewe fed at or below maintenance energy requirements during late gestation.

We have investigated the effects of maternal undernutrition during late gestation on maternal and fetal plasma concentrations of leptin and on leptin gene expression in fetal perirenal adipose tissue. Pregnant ewes were randomly assigned at 115 days of gestation (term = 147 +/- 3 days [mean +/- SEM]) to either a control group (n = 13) or an undernourished group (n = 16) that received approximately 50% of the control diet until 144-147 days of gestation. Maternal plasma glucose, but not leptin, concentrations were lower in the undernourished ewes. A significant correlation was found, however, between mean maternal plasma leptin (y) and glucose (x) concentrations (y = 2.9x - 2.4; r = 0.51, P < 0.02) when the control and undernourished groups were combined. Fetal plasma glucose and insulin, but not fetal leptin, concentrations were lower in the undernourished ewes, and no correlation was found between mean fetal leptin concentrations and either mean fetal glucose or insulin concentrations. A positive relationship, however, was found between mean fetal (y) and maternal (x) plasma leptin concentrations (y = 0.18x + 0.45; r = 0.66, P < 0.003). No significant difference was found in the relative abundance of leptin mRNA in fetal perirenal fat between the undernourished (0.60 +/- 0.09, n = 10) and control (0.70 +/- 0.08, n = 10) groups. Fetal plasma concentrations of leptin (y) and leptin mRNA levels (x) in perirenal adipose tissue were significantly correlated (y = 1.5x +/- 0.3; r = 0.69, P < 0.05). In summary, the capacity of leptin to act as a signal of moderate maternal undernutrition may be limited before birth in the sheep.