Context: Maternal body mass index (BMI) is associated with increased birth weight but does not explain all the variance in fetal adiposity.
Objective: To assess the contribution of maternal body fat distribution to offspring birth weight and adiposity.
Design: Longitudinal study throughout gestation and at delivery.
Setting: Women recruited at 12 weeks of gestation and followed up at 26 and 36 weeks. Cord blood was collected at delivery.
Patients: Pregnant women (n = 45) with BMI 18.0 to 46.3 kg/m(2) and healthy pregnancy outcome.
Methods: Maternal first trimester abdominal subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissue thickness (SAT and VAT) was assessed by ultrasound.
Main Outcome Measures: Maternal body fat distribution, maternal and cord plasma glucose and lipid concentrations, placental weight, birth weight, and fetal adiposity assessed by cord blood leptin.
Results: VAT was the only anthropometric measure independently associated with birth weight centile (r(2) adjusted 15.8%, P=.002). BMI was associated with trimester 2 and trimesters 1 through 3 area under the curve (AUC) glucose and insulin resistance (Homeostatic Model Assessment). SAT alone predicted trimester 2 lipoprotein lipase (LPL) mass (a marker of adipocyte insulin sensitivity) (11.3%, P=.017). VAT was associated with fetal triglyceride (9.3%, P=.047). Placental weight was the only independent predictor of fetal adiposity (48%, P<.001). Maternal trimester 2 and AUC LPL were inversely associated with fetal adiposity (r = -0.69, P=.001 and r = -0.58, P=.006, respectively).
Conclusions: Maternal VAT provides additional information to BMI for prediction of birth weight. VAT may be a marker of reduced SAT expansion and increased availability of maternal fatty acids for placental transport.
Oxford University Press, 2020. Vol. 105, no 3, p. E814-E825
Pregnancy, Adipose tissue, Birth weight, Insulin resistance, Body fat distribution