A mechanism has been identified that explains how physical exercise in pregnancy confers metabolic health benefits in offspring. According to researchers, the key lies with a protein called SOD3, vitamin D and adequate exercise, with the outcomes possibly forming the first steps to designing rational diet and exercise programs to use during pregnancy and particularly when mothers may also be overweight or obese.
The study has been published online by Cell Metabolism.
"We've known for a while that risks for obesity and type 2 diabetes can originate in the critical prenatal developmental period," said senior author. "In particular, there is real concern that the increasing levels of obesity seen in women of reproductive age will transmit disease risk to subsequent generations. It's important to understand that if this is not alleviated, rates of diabetes and obesity will only continue to grow in the coming years."
Many previous studies have linked increased maternal body weight and unhealthy diets to poorer metabolic outcomes in offspring, often many years later. Understanding the mechanisms of how maternal exercise can reverse these effects might lead to interventions that prevent these diseases transmitting across generations, say the authors of the study.
"The findings offer an explanation as to why physical exercise during pregnancy may have metabolic benefits for offspring as they get older," said the author. "We show how physical exercise during pregnancy, in combination with adequate vitamin D levels, enhances levels of a placenta-derived protein called SOD3 (superoxide dismutase 3), and that via a number of intermediate steps, this improves glucose tolerance in offspring."
The findings come from a series of investigations with pregnant mice, comparing groups exposed to voluntary wheel running (i.e., exercise) and groups that were sedentary. Using various techniques, the authors carefully investigated the effects of exercise on parameters such as DNA methylation, cell signaling and gene expression, particularly in relation to glucose metabolism.
In short, they found that SOD3 is an exercise-induced placenta-derived protein that activates a specific signaling pathway that controls DNA demethylation in the livers of offspring, which in turn improves a number of aspects of glucose metabolism in offspring.
They also highlight the critical role of vitamin D as a mediator of SOD3 expression, with their data suggesting that maternal diet had to have sufficient vitamin D levels to influence placental levels of SOD3 and hence any improvements in metabolic health in offspring. They note for example, that high dietary levels of the vitamin in the absence of exercise, and indeed the opposite scenario, did not lead to increases in SOD3 - a consequential point if SOD3 is targeted clinically, they suggest.
Although most of the investigation focuses on mice, the authors did also look at SOD3 levels in pregnant women, finding that those who exercised more did have higher levels of serum and placental SOD3 and that they appeared to be highest during the second trimester of pregnancy.
"In terms of clinical application, it looks like the most efficient way to raise levels of the SOD3 protein is still likely to be via physical exercise," said lead author and added that there may also be clinical interest in using maternal serum levels of SOD3 as a biomarker to assess the benefits of exercise during pregnancy.
"Our data hints that exercise in combination with optimal vitamin D levels might be particularly beneficial during the 2nd trimester of pregnancy," said the lead. "Although we can't be definitive about this with the current findings, we now plan to look in detail at how diet and exercise type and timing might be optimized with maternal serum SOD3 measurements to obtain maximum benefits for offspring."
The authors note some limitations with the study, including generalizability to all races and ethnicities and that there are still certain aspects of the signaling pathway that require further investigation. Nonetheless, they suggest their findings offer important insights into the role of exercise during pregnancy and the likely dynamic metabolic benefits for offspring.
"This report focuses on SOD3 and the metabolic benefits for offspring of maternal exercise, but there may be wider benefits of this protein on other body organs. For example, we are currently investigating the effects of maternal exercise and SOD3 on brain function in the offspring," said the senior author. "We are also doing more in-depth investigation of maternal exercise effects on placenta because we found there are a plethora of changes in this tissue, and these placental adaptations may also have life-long effects in offspring. It's early days but understanding how exercise and fitness before and during pregnancy work may be the key to better health for subsequent generations."
https://www.joslin.org/about/news-media/kids-metabolic-health-can-be-improved-exercise-during-pregnancy-heres-why
https://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/fulltext/S1550-4131(21)00111-X
Exercise during pregnancy improves kids metabolic health
- 1,062 views
- Added
Edited
Latest News
Ancient viral DNA in the hu…
By newseditor
Posted 26 May
AI to analyze clumping prot…
By newseditor
Posted 26 May
Reversible, non-hormonal ma…
By newseditor
Posted 26 May
Dissection of the schizophr…
By newseditor
Posted 26 May
Protease action on controll…
By newseditor
Posted 25 May
Other Top Stories
New anti-phage defence mechanisms in bacteria
Read more
Inactivated COVID-19 protects macaques from infection
Read more
Statin drugs might boost healthy gut microbes
Read more
Neutralization of Betacoronaviruses by Antibodies
Read more
Stress increases vulnerability to virus
Read more
Protocols
SEMORE: SEgmentation and MO…
By newseditor
Posted 26 May
Spatially resolved lipidomi…
By newseditor
Posted 24 May
Efficient expansion and CRI…
By newseditor
Posted 21 May
Massively parallel in vivo…
By newseditor
Posted 20 May
Breast cancer-on-chip for p…
By newseditor
Posted 16 May
Publications
Integrating human endogenou…
By newseditor
Posted 26 May
The thalamic reticular nucl…
By newseditor
Posted 26 May
PMI-controlled mannose meta…
By newseditor
Posted 26 May
Protein-membrane interactio…
By newseditor
Posted 26 May
Toward an interventional sc…
By newseditor
Posted 26 May
Presentations
Hydrogels in Drug Delivery
By newseditor
Posted 12 Apr
Lipids
By newseditor
Posted 31 Dec
Cell biology of carbohydrat…
By newseditor
Posted 29 Nov
RNA interference (RNAi)
By newseditor
Posted 23 Oct
RNA structure and functions
By newseditor
Posted 19 Oct
Posters
A chemical biology/modular…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Aug
Single-molecule covalent ma…
By newseditor
Posted 04 Jul
ASCO-2020-HEALTH SERVICES R…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-HEAD AND NECK CANCER
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-GENITOURINARY CAN…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar