A high-fat diet and obesity during a pregnancy could compromise the blood-forming, or hematopoietic, stem cell system in the fetal liver responsible for creating and sustaining lifelong blood and immune system function, according to a recent study.

Researchers from Oregon Health & Science University found that the developing blood stem cells might be similarly vulnerable to prenatal high-fat diet and/or maternal obesity as the heart and circulatory system.

"Our results offer a model for testing whether the effects of a high-fat diet and obesity can be repaired through dietary intervention, a key question when extrapolating this data to human populations," Daniel L. Marks, co-investigator of the study, said in a statement.

Several years ago, Marks and colleagues developed a mouse model that closely mimics the high-fat, high-simple-sugar diet currently consumed by many young women of childbearing age. Their subsequent research demonstrated that maternal overnutrition in mice significantly reduced the size of the fetal liver.

Researchers discovered that the complex changes that occur as a result of maternal high-fat diet and obesity put significant constraints on the growth and expansion of blood stem cells in the fetal liver, which ultimately compromises the developing immune system.

"In light of the spreading western-style, high-fat diet and accompanying obesity epidemic, this study highlights the need to better understand the previous unrecognized susceptibility of the stem and progenitor cell system," researcher Peter Kurre said.

Researchers said the results may provide broad context for the rise in immune disease and allergic disposition in children.

The findings are detailed in the journal Molecular Metabolism.