Possible relationship between pre-pregnancy maternal body mass index and offspring hippocampus: An experimental study in albino Wistar rat.

Abstract

Background: Cognitive impairment and attention deficit disorder have been on the rise among generations in recent times. A significant portion of the brain involved in learning and cognition is the hippocampus. Its development begins in utero till weaning. The mother's body mass index (BMI) before pregnancy indicates her health; however, little data links maternal BMI before pregnancy to fetal hippocampal health outcomes.

Aim: The study aimed to estimate the extent to which pre-pregnancy maternal BMI relates to their offspring brain status, and thus to what extent to this stage of life may be an opportunity for mental and cognitive development.

Methods: Thirty-six naive female albino rats (Rattus norvegicus) at 8 weeks of age with an average weight of 190-220 g body weight were obtained and assigned to three experimental groups according to their body mass index into; under-, over-, and normal weight. Following one week of habituation, all females were allowed to mate (3 female/ 1 male). On postnatal day 1 (PND1), pups were randomly adjusted to 8/dam with an equal gender ratio. On 15 days postpartum, all pups were sacrificed. Hippocampi were removed and processed for histological investigations, Glial fibrillary acidic protein immunohistochemically, and flow cytometric assessments of apoptosis. Measurements of the cognitive brain were carried out.

Results: The present findings manifested elevation in the inflammatory and apoptotic markers in the hippocampus of underweight mothers-offspring yielding a lower cognitive ability than overweight mothers-offspring compared to those whose mothers with normal weight before conception. The male offspring were more affected than female offspring especially those born to pre-pregnancy underweight mothers.

Conclusion: The study concluded that there may be a connection between a mother's pre-pregnancy BMI and her offspring's cognitive capacities, which calls for more study to gain a deeper knowledge and to create interventions that target the physical health of the mother prior to pregnancy in order to enhance their offspring's health and cognitive outcomes.