Placental gene signatures associated with high neonatal adiposity: role for immune cell activation

Excessive fat accretion leading to high adiposity at birth, however, can increase a child’s long-term risk for obesity and metabolic disease. While maternal body mass index is associated with neonatal adiposity, there is a wide variation in body composition among babies born to both women with and without obesity.

The placenta orchestrates a complex exchange of nutrients and signals between the mother and baby. To better understand the molecular mechanisms that govern fetal fat accumulation, we profiled the transcriptomics of 79 placentas collected from mothers with and without obesity. We identified a set of 18 neonatal adiposity-associated genes, common to pregnancies with and without obesity.