Maternal undernutrition and endocrine development

Abstract

Maternal undernutrition, whether it occurs before conception, throughout gestation or during lactation, may lead to physiological adaptations in the fetus that will affect the health of the offspring in adult life. The timing, severity, duration and nature of the maternal nutritional insult may affect the offspring differently. Other factors determining outcome following maternal undernutrition are fetal number and gender. Importantly, effects of maternal undernutrition may be carried over into subsequent generations. This review examines the endocrine pathways disrupted by maternal undernutrition that affect the long-term postnatal health of the offspring. Maternal and childhood undernutrition are highly prevalent in low- and middle-income countries, and, in developed countries, unintentional undernutrition may arise from maternal dieting. It is, therefore, important that we better understand the mechanisms driving the long-term effects of maternal undernutrition, as well as identifying treatments to ameliorate the associated mortality and morbidity.