Open AccessSex differences in the association between prenatal exposure to maternal obesity and hippocampal volume in children
Author(s) -
Alves Jasmin M.,
Luo Shan,
Chow Ting,
Herting Megan,
Xiang Anny H.,
Page Kathleen A.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
brain and behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.915
H-Index - 41
ISSN - 2162-3279
DOI - 10.1002/brb3.1522
Subject(s) - hippocampal formation , subiculum , body mass index , medicine , offspring , obesity , dentate gyrus , pregnancy , hippocampus , endocrinology , physiology , biology , genetics
Animal studies have shown that male but not female offspring exposed to maternal obesity have abnormal hippocampal development. Similar sex differences were observed in animal models of developmental programming by prenatal stress or maternal diabetes. We aimed to translate this work into humans by examining sex‐specific effects of exposure to maternal obesity on hippocampal volume in children. Methods Eighty‐eight children (37 boys and 51 girls) aged 7–11 years completed the study. Maternal prepregnancy body mass index (BMI) was obtained from electronic medical records. A high‐resolution anatomical scan was performed using a 3‐Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner. Total hippocampal volume and hippocampal subfield volumes were analyzed using FreeSurfer 6.0. Linear regression was used to investigate sex differences in relationships between maternal prepregnancy BMI and child hippocampal volume. Results Maternal prepregnancy BMI ranged from 19.0 to 50.4 kg/m 2 . We observed a significant interaction between maternal prepregnancy BMI and sex on total hippocampal volume ( p < .001) such that boys ( r = −.39, p = .018) but not girls ( r = .11, p = .45) had a significant negative relationship between maternal prepregnancy BMI and total hippocampal volume. This relationship in boys remained significant after adjusting for child and maternal covariates ( β = −126.98, p = .012). The sex interactions with prepregnancy BMI were consistently observed in hippocampal subfields CA1 ( p = .008), CA2/3 ( p = .016), CA4 ( p = .002), dentate gyrus ( p < .001), and subiculum ( p < .001). Conclusions Our results support findings in animal models and suggest that boys may be more vulnerable to the adverse effects of exposure to maternal obesity on hippocampal development than girls.