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Maternal Insulin Sensitivity and Fetal Brain Activity

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Diet, Nutrition, and Fetal Programming

Part of the book series: Nutrition and Health ((NH))

Abstract

There is increasing evidence that an adverse intrauterine environment may have lifelong consequences for the offspring related to disease development. One determining factor can be the metabolic status of the mother. We present data addressing the relationship between maternal insulin sensitivity and fetal brain activity in humans. We briefly review the current knowledge on insulin sensitivity in the adult brain and on studies investigating fetal programming in animal models. Fetal brain activity can be recorded completely non-invasively in humans with fetal magnetoencephalography. First studies on the influence of maternal metabolism on fetal brain activity are described. These findings indicate that maternal insulin sensitivity directly affects fetal brain development.

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Abbreviations

ER:

Evoked response

FFA:

Free fatty acids

fMEG:

Fetal magnetoencephalography

GDM:

Gestational diabetes mellitus

HOMA-IR:

Homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance

IR:

Insulin resistance

IS:

Insulin sensitivity

NGT:

Normal glucose tolerant

OGTT:

Oral glucose tolerance test

SQUIDs:

Superconducting quantum interference devices

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Diabetes Research and Metabolic Diseases of the Helmholtz Center Munich at the University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany

    Franziska Schleger PhD, Katarzyna Linder MD, Andreas Fritsche MD & Hubert Preissl PhD

  2. Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetology, Angiology, Nephrology and Clinical Chemistry, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany

    Katarzyna Linder MD & Andreas Fritsche MD

Authors
  1. Franziska Schleger PhD
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  2. Katarzyna Linder MD
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  3. Andreas Fritsche MD
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  4. Hubert Preissl PhD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hubert Preissl PhD .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutrition, King's College, London, United Kingdom

    Rajkumar Rajendram

  2. Department of Nutrition, King's College, London, United Kingdom

    Victor R. Preedy

  3. Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Westminster, London, United Kingdom

    Vinood B. Patel

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Schleger, F., Linder, K., Fritsche, A., Preissl, H. (2017). Maternal Insulin Sensitivity and Fetal Brain Activity. In: Rajendram, R., Preedy, V., Patel, V. (eds) Diet, Nutrition, and Fetal Programming. Nutrition and Health. Humana Press, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60289-9_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60289-9_6

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