Peroxiredoxins in the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease: Insights from Maternal Under and Overnutrition – A Critical-Interpretative Scoping Review

Epidemiological and experimental evidence indicate that disturbances during pregnancy or lactation can induce metabolic programming in offspring, increasing lifelong disease risk. Maternal malnutrition, whether by excess or deficiency, is linked to metabolic disorders such as type 2 diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular diseases. Current research aims to identify biomarkers of the developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD). Among these, peroxiredoxins (PRDX1–6) have gained attention for their mitochondrial, cytoplasmic, and endoplasmic reticulum roles in antioxidant defense, inflammation, and energy metabolism. This scoping review aimed to understand what is known about the effects of maternal malnutrition on the PRDXs in different organs in the offspring, to understand whether these biomolecules have a potential role in the DOHaD context. This review followed PRISMA-ScR guidelines and systematically searched PubMed studies linking maternal nutritional undernutrition or overnutrition to PRDX expression in offspring. Only studies directly assessing PRDXs after maternal dietary interventions were included; reviews, preprints, and studies without maternal influence were excluded. Therefore, we identified 426 manuscripts, of which 346 were removed for being outside the scope of the review, 41 for being duplicates, 1 for not reporting the effect on PRDXs, 21 for not being related to maternal diet, 2 were review articles, and 1 was used as a model of maternal stress. Therefore, a total of 14 manuscripts were selected, all of an experimental nature. Maternal malnutrition affects different PRDX isoforms in several models and organs, outlining possible disorders associated with cellular function and stress response. Therefore, maternal undernutrition affects cardiac, cerebral, hepatic, ovarian, pancreatic, and adrenal PRDXs, while maternal overnutrition affects PRDXs in the salivary glands, intestine, and ovaries, establishing possible metabolic and reproductive risks through biological mechanisms that still need to be thoroughly investigated. We highlighted numerous gaps in the literature and provided a solid foundation for future experimental and translational studies that will establish whether PRDXs are biomarkers of the developmental origins of diseases and maternal malnutrition.