Open Access
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Geburtshilfe Frauenheilkd 2019; 79(11): 1176-1182
DOI: 10.1055/a-0960-0939
GebFra Science
Review/Übersicht
Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

Maternal Overweight, Inflammation and Neurological Consequences for the Preterm Child: Results of the ELGAN Study

Artikel in mehreren Sprachen: English | deutsch
Lars Brodowski
2   Frauenklinik, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Hannover, Germany
,
Wolfgang Büter
1   Kinderklinik, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Hannover, Germany
,
Fabian Kohls
2   Frauenklinik, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Hannover, Germany
,
Peter Hillemanns
2   Frauenklinik, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Hannover, Germany
,
Constantin von Kaisenberg
2   Frauenklinik, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Hannover, Germany
,
Olaf Dammann
2   Frauenklinik, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Hannover, Germany
3   Public Health & Community Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
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Publikationsverlauf

received 20. März 2019
revised 25. Mai 2019

accepted 21. Juni 2019

Publikationsdatum:
11. November 2019 (online)

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Abstract

Maternal overweight and obesity are prenatal risk factors for obstetrical complications, preterm birth, neonatal morbidity as well as cognitive and behavioural developmental disorders in children. Paediatric morbidity and mortality as well as child development disorders are significantly associated with maternal obesity. Particularly in the neurodevelopmental and psychiatric area, it is becoming increasingly clear that, in children of mothers with an increased body mass index (BMI), there is a high correlation with childhood cognitive disabilities, attention disorders, and diseases on the autistic spectrum. The ELGAN (Extremely Low Gestational Age Newborn) study is a multicentre study which has been supported since 2000 by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and whose objective is to research predictors for neonatal brain damage and neurological-cognitive sequelae in premature infants. The areas of focus are the connection between maternal overweight and obesity and pregnancy complications, APGAR scores and systemic inflammatory markers. In this overview, our aim is to summarise the work in this area and discuss it critically on the basis of current literature. We will examine the hypothesis whether maternal overweight and obesity in terms of a chronic inflammatory state is associated with neonatal inflammation which in turn is associated with an unfavourable development prognosis.