Special Issue "Early Programming: Crosstalk between Maternal Carbohydrate Diet and Metabolic Flexibility"

Dear Colleagues,

Dietary intervention has a direct influence not only on physiological functions but also on pathological situations, such as metabolic syndrome, diabetes, or cardiovascular diseases. There is evidence that adverse situations during early development have a direct impact on later periods of life. Environmental factors, including nutritional status, in the fetal and neonatal periods, are related to the risk of non-communicable diseases later on, such as metabolic syndrome. Therefore, one of the key points for dietary intervention is the control of glycemia during pregnancy, especially among obese women, since there is a well-established relationship between insulin resistance and adverse consequences for both mother and offspring. Nowadays, the advantage in the use of different mixtures of carbohydrates, in which rapid-digesting carbohydrates (saccharose) are replaced with low-glycemic-index (GI) carbohydrates is being explored as a rational approach.

Metabolic flexibility is the capability of a system to regulate fuel oxidation or storage (primarily glucose and fatty acids) in response to nutrient availability. Metabolic flexibility also relies on organ interplay, since the liver, adipose tissue, and muscle regulate energy homeostasis in a coordinated fashion, depending on the caloric intake and energy demand.

This Special Issue will focus on the importance of the quality, rather than the quantity, of carbohydrates during pregnancy to prevent an impact on disease risk in the offspring through the modulation of metabolic flexibility.

Specific areas to be addressed include the significance of early programming of metabolic flexibility in the offspring in different tissues and organs, preventing diseases, such as diabetes, obesity, cancer, inflammation, and non-alcoholic fatty acid liver disease.  Manuscripts dealing with other pertinent challenging issues are also highly desired.

Prof. Dr. Maria D. Giron-Gonzalez
Prof. Dr. Rafael Salto-Gonzalez
Dr. Jose M. López-Pedrosa
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• early programming
• insulin-resistant pregnancy
• diabetes
• obesity
• metabolic flexibility
• non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
• slow-digesting carbohydrates
• cancer
• inflammation