Abstract
The goal of the present study was to investigate whether intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) affects brain responses to palatable foods and whether docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, an omega-3 fatty acid that is a primary structural component of the human brain) serum levels moderate the association between IUGR and brain and behavioral responses to palatable foods. Brain responses to palatable foods were investigated using a functional magnetic resonance imaging task in which participants were shown palatable foods, neutral foods and non-food items. Serum DHA was quantified in blood samples, and birth weight ratio (BWR) was used as a proxy for IUGR. The Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ) was used to evaluate eating behaviors. In the contrast palatable food > neutral items, we found an activation in the right superior frontal gyrus with BWR as the most important predictor; the lower the BWR (indicative of IUGR), the greater the activation of this region involved in impulse control/decision making facing the viewing of palatable food pictures versus neutral items. At the behavioral level, a general linear model predicting external eating using the DEBQ showed a significant interaction between DHA and IUGR status; in IUGR individuals, the higher the serum DHA, the lower is external eating. In conclusion, we suggest that IUGR moderates brain responses when facing stimuli related to palatable foods, activating an area related to impulse control. Moreover, higher intake of n-3 PUFAs can protect IUGR individuals from developing inappropriate eating behaviors, the putative mechanism of protection would involve decreasing intake in response to external food cues in adolescents/young adults.
Highlights
Individuals exposed to intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) are vulnerable to the risk for chronic diseases in adulthood.[1]
The results show that the degree of IUGR is associated with an increase in the activation of the right superior frontal gyrus, a brain area previously involved in processes of impulse control and decision making.[50,51,52,53,54]
The present study shows that the degree of IUGR is associated with specific brain activation towards palatable food cues later in life
Summary
Individuals exposed to intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) are vulnerable to the risk for chronic diseases in adulthood.[1]. Our group and others have shown that IUGR is associated with changes in behavior and food preferences throughout life,[6] spontaneously preferring palatable foods, rich in energy density but poor from a nutritional point of view.[7,8,9,10,11,12] These choices for specific types of food at different times during the life course can have an important role in increasing the risk for diseases widely described in these individuals.[13] We have shown that impulsivity and poor inhibitory control are important behavioral traits that moderate non-adaptive feeding in IUGR children.[14,15]. We hypothesized that molecules involved in the modulation of impulse control could have a protective role improving feeding behaviors in IUGR children
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