Many studies have provided evidence for the hypothesis that size at birth is related to the risk of developing disease in later life. In particular, links are well established between reduced birthweight and increased risk of coronary heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and stroke in adulthood. These relationships are modified by patterns of postnatal growth. The most widely accepted mechanis...

The prevalence of overweight and obesity in most developed countries has markedly increased during the last decades. In addition to genetic, hormonal, and metabolic influences, environmental factors like fetal and neonatal nutrition play key roles in the development of obesity. Interestingly, overweight during critical developmental periods of fetal and/or neonatal life has been demonstrated to...

Maternal stress during pregnancy has pervasive effects on the offspring's physiology and behavior, including the development of anxious, reactive temperament and increased stress responsivity. These outcomes can be seen as the result of adaptive developmental plasticity: maternal stress hormones carry useful information about the state of the external world, which can be used by the developing ...

BACKGROUND/AIM Both maternal nicotine (NIC) exposure and placental insufficiency increase oxidative stress in the fetal kidney ensuing fetal programming of renal diseases in adult life. Their combined effects, however, are unknown. We tested the hypothesis that maternal NIC exposure exacerbates renal oxidative stress and injury in fetuses of pregnant rats with placental insufficiency. MATERIA...

The Leningrad Siege Study investigated the relationship between decreased maternal food intake and risk factors for coronary heart disease in adult life. The study screened 169 subjects exposed to intrauterine starvation during the Siege of Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) 1941-4, 192 subjects born in Leningrad before the siege and 188 subjects born concurrently with these two groups but outside ...

Events that occur in the early fetal environment have been linked to long-term health and lifespan consequences in the adult. Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), which may occur as a result of nutrient insufficiency, exposure to hormones, or disruptions in placental structure or function, may induce the fetus to alter its developmental program in order to adapt to the new conditions. IUGR m...

Gestational diabetes mellitus is defined by new-onset glucose intolerance during pregnancy. About 2-5% of all pregnant women develop gestational diabetes during their pregnancies and the prevalence has increased considerably during the last decade. This metabolic condition is manifested when pancreatic β-cells lose their ability to compensate for increased insulin resistance during pregnancy, h...

BACKGROUND In this study discussed the primary and regulatory roles of fatty acids, and investigated the affects of fatty acids on metabolic programming. METHODS Review of the literature was carried out on three electronic databases to assess the roles of fatty acids in metabolic programming. All abstracts and full-text articles were examined, and the most relevant articles were selected for ...

Developmental plasticity allows the generation of a number of phenotypes from a single genome (Gluckman & Hanson, 2004a). There is a substantial and growing body of evidence from epidemiological studies (Godfrey & Barker, 2001) and from animal models (Bertram & Hanson, 2001) that supports the hypothesis that constraints in the fetal environment, such as undernutrition, induce phenotypes with in...

SCOPE Early-life exposures are critical in fetal programming and may influence function and health in later life. Adequate maternal folate consumption during pregnancy is essential for healthy fetal development and long-term offspring health. The mechanisms underlying fetal programming are poorly understood, but are likely to involve gene regulation. Epigenetic marks, including DNA methylation,...