Cigarette Exposure in the Womb May Amplify Risk of Metabolic Disease in Adulthood

Study sheds light on how early exposures affect the body’s response to an unhealthy diet

Minneapolis—People whose mothers smoked during pregnancy may benefit from paying extra attention to a healthy diet. Researchers will present their work this week at the 2026 American Physiology Summit in Minneapolis. The Summit is the flagship annual meeting of the American Physiological Society (APS). 

According to a new study conducted in mice, the double-hit of maternal smoking and a high-fat, high-sugar diet during adulthood led to worse markers of metabolic health—such as higher body fat and higher cholesterol—than either factor alone. The results suggest that in utero cigarette exposure affects liver and fat tissue in ways that could contribute to obesity, fatty liver disease and other health problems.

“Those affected by maternal smoking should watch their diet like most people, as well as have a dialogue with their primary care physician about testing for signs of the development of metabolic disease (high blood pressure, high blood sugar and high blood lipids),” said the study’s first author Isaiah Burciaga, MS, a PhD candidate at the University of Louisville.

The study was designed to model the effects of consuming a typical American diet for those whose mothers smoked while pregnant. To start, one group of mice was exposed to smoke from a pack of cigarettes for three hours a day while the other group had no smoke exposure. Female mice in each group bred and produced offspring, at which point the smoke exposure stopped.

When the offspring reached 15 weeks of age (equivalent to young adulthood in humans), half of the mice in each group were fed a low-fat diet and half were fed a high-fat, high-sugar diet.

After five weeks, male mice that had been exposed to both cigarette smoke in utero and the high-fat, high-sugar diet in adulthood had significantly more body fat and a worse lipid profile compared with mice in any of the other groups. Mice with no smoke exposure and a low-fat diet had the healthiest metabolic profile while mice with either smoke exposure or the high-fat, high-sugar diet had intermediate levels.

The researchers noted that it is possible that similar outcomes would be seen in female offspring if the diet portion of the study had lasted more than five weeks, since it often takes longer for female mice to respond to this type of dietary intervention.

The researchers will also present the gene and protein pathways that might be driving the patterns they observed.

NOTE TO JOURNALISTS: The American Physiology Summit will be held April 23–26, 2026, in Minneapolis. To schedule an interview with the researchers, conference organizers or presenters, or to request the abstract “Prenatal Origins of Metabolic Disease—The Interface Between Maternal Smoking and Adulthood Western Diet,” contact APS Media Relations or call 301.634.7314. Find more highlights from the meeting in our Newsroom. 

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