DORIAN Developmental ORIgins of healthy and unhealthy AgeiNg: the role of maternal obesity (DSB.AD003.023)

Thematic area

Biomedical sciences

Project area

Structure responsible for the research project

Institute of clinical physiology (IFC)

Project manager

PATRICIA IOZZO
Phone number: 050 315-2789
Email: iozzo@ifc.cnr.it

Abstract

Europe has the highest proportion of elderly people in the world. Cardiovascular disease (CVD), type 2 diabetes (T2D), sarcopenia and cognitive decline frequently coexist in the same aged individual, sharing common early risk factors and being mutually reinforcing. Obesity is a main health concern in the world. In the EU one-third of women of reproductive age are overweight and 20% are obese, a prevalence predicted to double in the next decade. There is growing evidence that maternal obesity increases the long term risk of CVD, T2D and neurodegenerative morbidity in the offspring. This project will clarify if and to what extent maternal obesity leads to premature and unhealthy ageing, by causing early, i.e. pre-/perinatal metabolic and genetic vulnerability, starting from insulin resistance and glucocorticoid exposure, leading to oxidative-stress, telomere/DNA damage, epigenetic changes, interacting with genetic and environmental variability, resulting in altered gene expression/repair, and ultimately in disease during life and pathological ageing.

Goals

The project investigates mechanisms linking pregnancy and development to short and life long cardio-metabolic and neurologic consequences in preclinical models and in human cohorts followed from prenatal life until ageing, and the possibility to intervene when the condition is still reversible. The possibility to identify surrogate markers to estimate early risk and monitor progression-regression is addressed.

Start date of activity

01/01/2012

Keywords

obesity, ageing, fetal programming

Last update: 26/11/2024