Maternal Low Protein Diet and Fetal Programming of Lean Type 2 Diabetes

Authors

Vidyadharan Alukkal Vipin
Chellakkan Selvanesan Blesson
Chandra Yallampalli

Publication Date

3-15-2022

Journal

World Journal of Diabetes

DOI

10.4239/wjd.v13.i3.185

PMID

35432755

PMCID

PMC8984567

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

3-15-2022

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Post-print

Published Open-Access

yes

Keywords

Type 2 diabetes, Maternal low protein diet, Fetal programming, Lean diabetes, Developmental origin of health and disease

Abstract

Maternal nutrition is found to be the key factor that determines fetal health in utero and metabolic health during adulthood. Metabolic diseases have been primarily attributed to impaired maternal nutrition during pregnancy, and impaired nutrition has been an immense issue across the globe. In recent years, type 2 diabetes (T2D) has reached epidemic proportion and is a severe public health problem in many countries. Although plenty of research has already been conducted to tackle T2D which is associated with obesity, little is known regarding the etiology and pathophysiology of lean T2D, a variant of T2D. Recent studies have focused on the effects of epigenetic variation on the contribution of in utero origins of lean T2D, although other mechanisms might also contribute to the pathology. Observational studies in humans and experiments in animals strongly suggest an association between maternal low protein diet and lean T2D phenotype. In addition, clear sex-specific disease prevalence was observed in different studies. Consequently, more research is essential for the understanding of the etiology and pathophysiology of lean T2D, which might help to develop better disease prevention and treatment strategies. This review examines the role of protein insufficiency in the maternal diet as the central driver of the developmental programming of lean T2D.