Physiology of nutrient intake and absorption during pregnancy.

Abstract

Pregnancy requires substantial maternal adaptations and increased function of maternal systems including cardiovascular, respiratory, and renal systems to provide nutrients and remove wastes from the conceptus. How the increased nutrient requirements for conceptus growth and increased maternal metabolic rate are met is less well understood than adaptations in some other systems, however. This Staying Current review will therefore provide an overview of nutrient requirements, adaptations in food intake, and adaptations in nutrient absorption during pregnancy, to support teaching of these concepts to undergraduate and postgraduate biology, physiology, and health science students.NEW & NOTEWORTHY This Staying Current review summarizes current understanding of nutrient requirements, adaptations in food intake, and adaptations in nutrient absorption during pregnancy during human and nonhuman mammalian pregnancy. Most information about mechanisms underlying increased food intake and nutrient absorption has been obtained in rodents. High quality studies of the mechanisms determining satiety and nutrient absorption throughout pregnancy are needed across mammalian species including humans to address gaps in current knowledge.