Maternal Obesity Is Associated with Dysregulation of Metabolic, Vascular, and Inflammatory Pathways

Obesity is increasing in prevalence worldwide and in all age groups. In nonpregnant individuals, obesity is associated with dyslipidemia; hyperinsulinemia; vascular dysfunction; and, more recently, low-grade chronic inflammation. However, whether such effects are sustained during pregnancy has been sparsely investigated but is important to establish, given the association of maternal obesity with numerous adverse metabolic and vascular consequences. We consecutively recruited 47 healthy women in the third trimester of pregnancy and divided the participants into 2 groups, lean [n = 24; median body mass index (BMI), 22.1 kg/m(2)] and obese (n = 23; median BMI, 31.0 kg/m(2)) around the median first trimester BMI.…