Maternal obesity and developmental programming of neuropsychiatric disorders: An inflammatory hypothesis

Maternal obesity is associated with the development of a variety of neuropsychiatric disorders; however, the mechanisms behind this association are not fully understood. Comparison between maternal immune activation and maternal obesity reveals similarities in associated impairments and maternal cytokine profile. Here, we present a summary of recent evidence describing how inflammatory processes contribute towards the development of neuropsychiatric disorders in the offspring of obese mothers. This includes discussion on how maternal cytokine levels, fatty acids and placental inflammation may interact with foetal neurodevelopment through changes to microglial behaviour and epigenetic modification. We also propose an exosome-mediated mechanism for the disruption of brain development under maternal obesity and discuss potential intervention strategies.