Maternal glucose in pregnancy is associated with child's adiposity and leptin at 5 years of age

Background: Exposure to maternal hyperglycaemia in pregnancy has been associated with childhood obesity. Leptin regulation might be involved in this 'adiposity programming' and may depend on timing of exposure.

Objectives: To investigate associations of maternal glycaemia at different periods in pregnancy with childhood adiposity and leptin levels at 5 years of age.

Methods: In a prospective pre-birth cohort, we measured maternal glucose levels after a 50 g oral glucose challenge test at first trimester (9.8 ± 2.3 weeks) and during a 75 g oral glucose tolerance test at second trimester (26.5 ± 0.9 weeks). We followed up children at 5 years; we measured anthropometry and body composition using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). We measured fasting leptin levels using immunoassays (Luminex) in 328 children. We conducted linear regression analyses, adjusting for potential confounders.

Results: Maternal glycaemia at first trimester was associated with childhood leptin levels at 5 years, independently of maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and other confounders (β = .09 ± .04; P = .03). Higher post-load glucose levels at second trimester were associated with greater total body fat percentage measured by DXA (1 hour-glucose: β = .010 ± .004; P = .03 and 2 hours-glucose: β = .016 ± .005; P = .002), but not with leptin levels.

Conclusions: Our results suggest that programming of leptin regulation may be sensitive to maternal hyperglycaemia specifically in early pregnancy.