ArticlePloS one2014
Maternal obesity affects fetal neurodevelopmental and metabolic gene expression: a pilot study.
Article in PloS one, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 48 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
48 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 72 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Lipocalin Apolipoprotein D Functional Portrait: A Systematic Review.Frontiers in physiology · 2021Pooled it
- Association between parental body mass index and autism spectrum disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2019Pooled it
- The amniotic fluid cell-free transcriptome in spontaneous preterm labor.Scientific reports · 2021Trial
- Amniotic fluid cell-free transcriptome: a glimpse into fetal development and placental cellular dynamics during normal pregnancy.BMC medical genomics · 2020Trial
- Stressed, Stained, and Stored: The Impact of Maternal Distress and Smoking on Amniotic Biomarkers-A Scoping Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- A Review of the Effects of Maternal and Paternal Obesity on Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Related Neurobiology in Rodent and Human Offspring.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2026Review
- Investigating the Origins of Biochemical Dysregulation in Trisomy 21 Pregnancy.The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2025Article
- Neurodevelopmental Pathways from Maternal Obesity to Offspring Outcomes: An Umbrella Review of Cognitive and Behavioral Consequences Across Development.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Elevated oncogene expressions in koala infected with multiple koala retrovirus subtypes: a preliminary study.Virus genes · 2025Article
- Article
- Pre-pregnancy BMI, gestational weight gain, and telomere length in amniotic fluid: a causal graph analysis.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- A review on cell-free RNA profiling: Insights into metabolic diseases and predictive value for bariatric surgery outcomes.Molecular metabolism · 2024Review
- Fetal cortical development and neurosonographic findings in obese pregnant women: a case control study from a tertiary hospital.Archives of gynecology and obstetrics · 2024Article
- Maternal obesity: sex-specific in utero changes in fetal brain autophagy and mTOR.Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) · 2024Article
- Apolipoprotein D as a Potential Biomarker in Neuropsychiatric Disorders.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Emerging technologies for prenatal diagnosis: The application of whole genome and RNA sequencing.Prenatal diagnosis · 2022Review
- The Relationship between Telomere Length and Gestational Weight Gain: Findings from the Mamma & Bambino Cohort.Biomedicines · 2021Article
- Adipose-Derived Lipid-Binding Proteins: The Good, the Bad and the Metabolic Diseases.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021Review
- Cell-free DNA Methylation and Transcriptomic Signature Prediction of Pregnancies with Adverse Outcomes.Epigenetics · 2021Article
- The Amniotic Fluid Cell-Free Transcriptome Provides Novel Information about Fetal Development and Placental Cellular Dynamics.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveOne in three pregnant women in the United States is obese. Their offspring are at increased risk for neurodevelopmental and metabolic morbidity. Underlying molecular mechanisms are poorly understood. We performed a global gene expression analysis of mid-trimester amniotic fluid cell-free fetal RNA in obese versus lean pregnant women.
methodsThis prospective pilot study included eight obese (BMI≥30) and eight lean (BMI<25) women undergoing clinically indicated mid-trimester genetic amniocentesis. Subjects were matched for gestational age and fetal sex. Fetuses with abnormal karyotype or structural anomalies were excluded. Cell-free fetal RNA was extracted from amniotic fluid and hybridized to whole genome expression arrays. Genes significantly differentially regulated in 8/8 obese-lean pairs were identified using paired t-tests with the Benjamini-Hochberg correction (false discovery rate of <0.05). Biological interpretation was performed with Ingenuity Pathway Analysis and the BioGPS gene expression atlas.
resultsIn fetuses of obese pregnant women, 205 genes were significantly differentially regulated. Apolipoprotein D, a gene highly expressed in the central nervous system and integral to lipid regulation, was the most up-regulated gene (9-fold). Apoptotic cell death was significantly down-regulated, particularly within nervous system pathways involving the cerebral cortex. Activation of the transcriptional regulators estrogen receptor, FOS, and STAT3 was predicted in fetuses of obese women, suggesting a pro-estrogenic, pro-inflammatory milieu.
conclusionMaternal obesity affects fetal neurodevelopmental and metabolic gene expression as early as the second trimester. These findings may have implications for postnatal neurodevelopmental and metabolic abnormalities described in the offspring of obese women.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.