Title:Inflammasomes in the Pathophysiology of Maternal Obesity: Potential Therapeutic Targets to Reduce Long-Term Adverse Health Outcomes in the Mother and Offspring
Volume: 19
Issue: 2
Author(s): Padma Murthi*Gayathri Rajaraman
Affiliation:
- Cardiovascular Disease Program, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute and Department of Pharmacology, Monash University, Victoria,Australia
Keywords:
Maternal obesity, pregnancy, placenta, inflammation, inflammasomes, maternal care.
Abstract: Over the past 20 years, the prevalence of obesity has risen dramatically worldwide, with an
increase in occurrence among women in their reproductive age. Obesity during pregnancy is associated
with significantly increased maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. In addition to the short-term
adverse health outcomes, both mother and the child are prone to develop cardiovascular, metabolic and
neurological disorders. Although associations between obesity during pregnancy and adverse maternalfetal
health outcomes are clear, the complex molecular mechanisms underlying maternal obesity remain
largely unknown. This review describes multimeric self-assembling protein complexes, namely inflammasomes,
as potential molecular targets in the pathophysiology of maternal obesity. Inflammasomes are
implicated in both normal physiological and in pathophysiological processes that occur in response to an
inflammatory milieu throughout gestation. This review highlights the current knowledge of inflammasome
expression and its activity in pregnancies affected by maternal obesity. Key discussions in defining
pharmacological inhibition of upstream as well as downstream targets of the inflammasome signaling
cascade; and the inflammasome platform, as a potential therapeutic strategy in attenuating the
pathophysiology underpinning inflammatory component in maternal obesity are presented herein.
