TY - JOUR
T1 - The link between maternal obesity and offspring neurobehavior
T2 - A systematic review of animal experiments
AU - Menting, M.D.
AU - van de Beek, C.
AU - Mintjens, S.
AU - Wever, K.E.
AU - Korosi, A.
AU - Ozanne, S.E.
AU - Limpens, J.
AU - Roseboom, T.J.
AU - Hooijmans, C.
AU - Painter, R.C.
N1 - With supplementary materials
PY - 2019/3/1
Y1 - 2019/3/1
N2 - Maternal obesity in pregnancy is associated with neurobehavioral problems in the offspring. Establishing causality has been challenging in existing human studies, due to confounding by genetic and postnatal environment. Animal experiments can improve our understanding of this association. This systematic review examined the effects of maternal obesity in pregnancy on offspring neurobehavior in animal models. We included 26 studies (1047 offspring animals). Meta-analyses showed that offspring of obese mothers displayed higher levels of locomotor activity (standardized mean difference (SMD) 0.34 [0.10; 0.58]) and anxiety behavior (SMD 0.47 [0.16; 0.79]) than offspring of lean mothers, but similar memory abilities (SMD -0.06 [-0.52; 0.39]). Meta-analysis of learning abilities was not sensible due to heterogeneity. Although the evidence was heterogeneous and the quality of the included studies generally unclear, this systematic review of animal studies indicates an effect of maternal obesity on increased offspring locomotor activity and anxiety, but not on offspring memory performance. These findings may be important from a public health perspective since obesity is rapidly increasing worldwide, and warrant further research.
AB - Maternal obesity in pregnancy is associated with neurobehavioral problems in the offspring. Establishing causality has been challenging in existing human studies, due to confounding by genetic and postnatal environment. Animal experiments can improve our understanding of this association. This systematic review examined the effects of maternal obesity in pregnancy on offspring neurobehavior in animal models. We included 26 studies (1047 offspring animals). Meta-analyses showed that offspring of obese mothers displayed higher levels of locomotor activity (standardized mean difference (SMD) 0.34 [0.10; 0.58]) and anxiety behavior (SMD 0.47 [0.16; 0.79]) than offspring of lean mothers, but similar memory abilities (SMD -0.06 [-0.52; 0.39]). Meta-analysis of learning abilities was not sensible due to heterogeneity. Although the evidence was heterogeneous and the quality of the included studies generally unclear, this systematic review of animal studies indicates an effect of maternal obesity on increased offspring locomotor activity and anxiety, but not on offspring memory performance. These findings may be important from a public health perspective since obesity is rapidly increasing worldwide, and warrant further research.
KW - Animal Experimentation
KW - Animal experiments
KW - Animals
KW - Behavior, Animal/physiology
KW - Child of Impaired Parents
KW - Female
KW - Humans
KW - Motor Activity/physiology
KW - Neurobehavior
KW - Obesity
KW - Obesity/complications
KW - Offspring
KW - Pregnancy
KW - Pregnancy Complications/prevention & control
KW - Systematic review
UR - https://pure.uva.nl/ws/files/59000761/Supplementary_materials.zip
UR - https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=85059824287&origin=inward
UR - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30611800
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85059824287&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.12.023
DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.12.023
M3 - Article
C2 - 30611800
SN - 0149-7634
VL - 98
SP - 107
EP - 121
JO - Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews
JF - Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews
ER -