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Basic Science

Poster Session 4

(1157) Placental lipid content is associated with neonatal adiposity independent of maternal obesity

Wednesday, February 14, 2024
1:00 PM – 2:30 PM  
Location: Prince George's Exhibit Hall CDE, Lower Atrium Level
Objective:

Research has shown that placental lipid metabolism is altered in obese patients and that neonates exposed to obesity in utero have higher adiposity at birth on average. However, lean patients may also have infants with high adiposity, suggesting that other factors may modulate this relationship. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between placental lipid composition and neonatal adiposity in patients with and without obesity.

Study Design:

Placental samples (N=77) were collected from healthy participants delivered via scheduled cesarean at term and grouped by maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) (lean (LE), BMI 18 – 24.9 kg/m2 vs. obese (OB), BMI 30-40 kg/m2) and then by tertiles of % body fat at birth measured by skinfold (low adiposity (LA), 1st tertile vs. high adiposity (HA), 3rd tertile) resulting in 4 groups: LELA, LEHA, OBLA, OBHA. Total lipids were extracted from the placenta using the Folch method. Placental lipids were separated into lipid species using thin layer chromatography. The effect of maternal obesity and neonatal adiposity on placental lipid composition was analyzed using 2-way ANOVA.

Results: High neonatal adiposity was associated with increased total placental lipid content (p=0.04), cholesterol ester (p=0.015), total phospholipid (p=0.019), and triglyceride (p=0.02), independent of maternal obesity. Maternal obesity had no significant effect on placental lipid content when neonatal adiposity was accounted for, and no interaction between the two variables was detected. No differences in free cholesterol or free fatty acid content was detectable between groups.

Conclusion: High total placenta lipid content was associated with high neonatal adiposity at birth, but not to maternal obesity. Esterified lipid species comprised the main differences between groups, whereas no differences were seen among non-esterified lipids. These findings suggest that placental lipid metabolism may modulate fetal fat accrual independent of maternal BMI.