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Having too much caffeine during pregnancy may impair baby’s liver development and increase the risk of liver disease in adulthoo

admin2020-11-30  36
问题     Having too much caffeine during pregnancy may impair baby’s liver development and increase the risk of liver disease in adulthood, according to a study published in the Journal of Endocrinology. Pregnant rats given caffeine had offspring with lower birth weights, altered growth and stress hormone levels and impaired liver development. The study findings indicate that consumption of caffeine equivalent to 2-3 cups of coffee may alter stress and growth hormone levels in a manner that can impair growth and development, and increase the risk of liver disease in adulthood.
    Previous studies have indicated that prenatal caffeine intake of 300 mg/day or more in women, which is approximately 2 to 3 cups coffee per day, can result in lower birth weights of their children. Animal studies have further suggested that prenatal caffeine consumption may have more detrimental long-term effects on liver development with an increased susceptibility to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, a debilitating condition normally associated with obesity and diabetes. However, the underlying link between prenatal caffeine exposure and impaired liver development remains poorly understood. A better understanding of how caffeine mediates these effects could help prevent these health issues in people in the future.
    In this study, Prof Hui Wang and colleagues at Wuhan University in China, investigated the effects of low (equivalent to 2-3 cups of coffee) and high doses (equivalent of 6-9 cups of coffee) caffeine, given to pregnant rats, on liver function and hormone levels of their offspring. Offspring exposed to prenatal caffeine had lower levels of the liver hormone, insulin like growth factor (IGF-1), and higher levels of the stress hormone, corticosteroid at birth. However, liver development after birth showed a compensatory ’catch up’ phase, characterised by increased levels of IGF-1, which is important for growth.
    Dr Yinxian Wen, study co-author, says, "Our results indicate that prenatal caffeine causes an excess of stress hormone activity in the mother, which inhibits IGF-1 activity for liver development before birth. However, compensatory mechanisms do occur after birth to accelerate growth and restore normal liver function, as IGF-1 activity increases and stress hormone signalling decreases. The increased risk of fatty liver disease caused by prenatal caffeine exposure is most likely a consequence of this enhanced, compensatory postnatal IGF-1 activity."
    These findings not only confirm that prenatal caffeine exposure leads to lower birth weight and impaired liver development before birth but also expand our current understanding of the hormonal changes underlying these changes and suggest the potential mechanism for increased risk of liver disease in the future. However, these animal findings need to be confirmed in humans.
    Dr Wen comments, "Our work suggests that prenatal caffeine is not good for babies and although these findings still need to be confirmed in people, I would recommend that women avoid caffeine during pregnancy."
What is the relationship between stress hormone and liver development when taking in prenatal caffeine?
选项 A、Lower stress hormone, lower birth weight before birth.
B、Higher stress hormone, lower growth hormone before birth.
C、Higher stress hormone, more accelerated growth of weight after birth.
D、Lower stress hormone, less accelerated growth of liver after birth.
答案A
解析 根据倒数第二段可知，孕期摄入一定量以上的咖啡因会介入影响压力(应激)激素和肝脏生长激素的关系，产前咖啡因会导致母体中过量的应激激素活性，从而抑制出牛前肝脏发育的IGF-1活性。然而，由于IGF-1活性增加和应激激素信号减少，出生后确实会出现代偿机制以加速生长并恢复正常的肝功能。由此可判断本题正确答案为A。
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