During pregnancy, the health of the mother and the intrauterine environment can have dramatic and lasting effects on the child. Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) is a liver disease that affects 0.5-2% of pregnant women and is characterized by increased bile acid levels in the maternal serum. In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation , Catherine Williamson and colleagues at Imperial College London studied the long term impact of ICP in a cohort of Finnish families. They found that as teenagers, individuals born to women with ICP had altered metabolic profiles and increased BMI. To further understand this effect, Williams and colleagues developed a mouse model of ICP and found that offspring of ICP mothers were more susceptible to metabolic disease and diet-induced obesity. In the companion commentary, Susan Murphy of Duke University points out that the mouse model of ICP may also be useful in identifying other factors that predispose individuals to metabolic syndrome.
TITLE: Cholestatic pregnancy programmes metabolic disease in the offspring
AUTHOR CONTACT: Catherine Williamson
Imperial College London, London, GBR
Phone: +44 (0)20 7594 2197; Fax: +44 (0)20 7594 2154; E-mail: catherine.williamson@imperial.ac.uk
View this article at: http://www.jci.org/articles/view/68927?key=15f4f087e8569a468d83
ACCOMPANYING COMMENTARY
TITLE: Prenatal sensitization of a postnatal trigger for metabolic disease
AUTHOR CONTACT: Susan Murphy
Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA
Phone: 919 681-3423; Fax: 919 684-5336; E-mail: murph035@mc.duke.edu
View this article at: http://www.jci.org/articles/view/69399?key=bb81f4707f101fecbcaa
Journal of Clinical Investigation