You are what your mother eats

 

On Wednesday, 15 February 2012, Dr Christine Jasoni, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Anatomy at the University of Otago, New Zealand, will speak on the effects of maternal diet on fetal hypothalamic circuitry development, as part of QBI's regular Neuroscience Seminar series.
 
She notes that maternal obesity during pregnancy predisposes offspring to becoming obese.
 
"Although the in utero environment during fetal development appears to be a key contributor, the specific maternal factors and the mechanism by which they bring about the programming of offspring obesity remain mysterious," Dr Jasoni says.
 
The arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus (ARC) receives information about the body’s energy balance, and then relays this information to other areas of the brain involved in body weight regulation.
 
"New data from our group indicate that fetal ARC development is perturbed by maternal obesity," says Dr Jasoni.
 
"In this talk, I will present data showing that maternal obesity leads to changes in the expression of a number of key axon growth regulatory receptors in the fetal ARC, which appear to be underpinned by epigenetic changes in promoter methylation, and that there may be a key role for the inflammatory cytokine IL6."
 
DETAILS
 
Date: Wednesday 15 February 2012
Time: 12:00 - 1:00PM
Location: Level 7 Auditorium, QBI Building (#79), St.Lucia Campus
 
For a list of upcoming seminars at QBI, go to http://www.qbi.uq.edu.au/neuroscience-seminars
 
 

 

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