Quantifying Mid-pregnancy Placental Metabolism in Guinea Pigs Fed a Lifelong Western Diet

Maternal consumption of a Western diet (WD) has been linked to alterations in fetoplacental metabolic programming and risk for the exposed fetus to develop obesity, cardiovascular disease, and type II diabetes mellitus. It may also cause oxidative damage to the placental mitochondria. This thesis investigated the metabolic effects of a WD on placentae using a guinea pig model of pregnancy and hyperpolarized 13C MRI for metabolic quantification. It was hypothesized that placental glycolytic metabolism would increase, and placental oxidative metabolism would decrease in WD-fed sows. Control diet- and WD-fed, pregnant sows underwent metabolic MRI at 33 days gestation and were investigated by quantifying the placental lactate-, alanine-, and bicarbonate-to-pyruvate ratios. A statistically significant relationship was detected between placental appearance and metabolism that could be useful as a biomarker of fetoplacental health. These results reinforce the importance of placental metabolic research to determine the relationship between WD consumption and placental metabolism