Perinatal high fat diet induces early activation of endocrine stress responsivity and anxiety-like behavior in neonatal offspring

Worldwide, there has been a dramatic increase in obesity prevalence, including in women of reproductive age (Fisher et al., 2013). Maternal obesity predisposes offspring to metabolic and neuropsychological disorders later in life (Dearden and Ozanne, 2015; Rivera et al., 2015). The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, the mediator of the endocrine stress response, is sensitive to environmental factors early in life and HPA programming is associated with anxiety behaviors later in life (McGowan and Matthews, 2017).

Source: Psychoneuroendocrinology - August 2, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Sameera Abuaish, Richard L. Spinieli, Patrick O. McGowan Source Type: research