Abstract
Animal studies have shown that exposure to excess sugar during the prenatal and postnatal periods may alter early brain structure in rat pups. However, evidence in humans is lacking. The aim of this study was to determine associations of maternal total and added sugar intake in pregnancy with early brain tissue organization in infants. Adolescent mothers (n = 41) were recruited during pregnancy and completed 24 h dietary recalls during the second trimester. Diffusion tensor imaging was performed on infants using a 3.0 Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging Scanner at 3 weeks. Maps of fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) were constructed. A multiple linear regression was used to examine voxel-wise associations across the brain. Adjusting for postmenstrual age, sex, birth weight, and total energy intake revealed that maternal total and added sugar consumption were associated inversely and diffusely with infant MD values, not FA values. Inverse associations were distributed throughout all of the cortical mantle, including the posterior periphery (Bs = −6.78 to −0.57, Ps < 0.001) and frontal lobe (Bs = −4.72 to −0.77, Ps ≤ 0.002). Our findings suggest that maternal total and added sugar intake during the second trimester are significantly associated with features of brain tissue organization in infants, the foundation for future functional outcomes.
Highlights
Maternal consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages during early lactation was associated inversely with child cognitive performance at 2 years of age [19]. While these results indicate that maternally consumed dietary sugar could conceivably be transmitted to the nursing infant through breast milk [18,20,21], maternal intake of dietary sugar during early lactation may represent enduring consumption patterns persisting from pregnancy, when exposure could influence later neurodevelopmental outcomes of the offspring [16,19]
Of the 72 adolescent mothers recruited, analyses were limited to the 41 participants whose infants had usable
Infants were born at term with a normal birth weight and had similar proportions of males and females
Summary
Dietary sugar, including added sugar, has become pervasive in the current food environment [1,2]. This is of concern, as dietary sugar consumption can contribute to the progression of chronic health conditions [3]. It is well-documented that excessive dietary sugar intake, both in early and later life, is associated with obesity [4,5,6,7], type-2 diabetes [8,9], and cardiovascular disease [10,11]. It is of interest to assess how early exposure to dietary sugar influences brain-related outcomes during critical windows of growth and development, when the fundamental features of brain tissue organization are established [17]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
