Palmitic acid impairs human and mouse placental function by inhibiting trophoblast autophagy through induction of acyl-coenzyme A-binding protein (ACBP) upregulation.

This article investigates how exposure to palmitic acid (PA), a common saturated fatty acid, affects placental development by modulating autophagy through acyl-coenzyme A-binding protein (ACBP) in human and mouse trophoblast cells. The study demonstrates that PA exposure increases ACBP expression and disrupts autophagic flux, leading to impaired placental function and reduced fetal and placental weights in mice. Using both in vitro human trophoblast models and a placenta-specific ACBP conditional knockout mouse model, the research shows that reducing ACBP expression can partially alleviate PA-induced autophagy dysfunction and placental toxicity. These findings suggest that high-fat diets rich in PA before and during pregnancy may adversely affect placental health and embryonic development via mechanisms involving ACBP-regulated autophagy.