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Nutritional influences on lipids and future atherosclerosis beginning prenatally and during childhood
Jorma S A Viikari1, Olli T Raitakari, Olli Simell
1Department of Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland. jorma.viikari@utu.fi
Insights
Atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, begins developing in early childhood and even in the womb. Fetal and childhood nutrition significantly impacts long-term lipid levels and cardiovascular health.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Science
- Nutritional Science
- Developmental Biology
Background:
- Autopsy findings reveal pre-atherosclerotic changes in young soldiers, indicating vascular changes begin long before clinical symptoms.
- Atherosclerosis development is influenced by genetic and environmental factors, particularly nutrition, with origins extending beyond the postnatal period.
- Fetal nutrition plays a crucial role, directly impacting development and establishing metabolic patterns influencing later life.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review recent studies on the impact of fetal and childhood nutrition on serum lipid profiles.
- To discuss the potential for clinically significant atherosclerosis to manifest earlier than previously assumed.
- To explore the predictive value of early-life lipid and lipoprotein abnormalities for later cardiovascular risk.
Main Methods:
- Review of observational and epidemiological studies.
- Analysis of research on fetal and childhood nutrition's effects on lipid metabolism.
- Examination of biochemical predictors of atherosclerosis in infancy and childhood.
Main Results:
- Vascular changes associated with atherosclerosis initiate much earlier than clinical manifestation.
- Early-life nutrition, including fetal nutrition, significantly influences serum lipid values.
- Biochemical markers like LDL and HDL cholesterol in infancy and childhood can predict later-life values.
Conclusions:
- Atherosclerosis pathogenesis begins in utero and is significantly influenced by early nutrition.
- Early identification of lipid abnormalities may allow for timely interventions to mitigate long-term cardiovascular risk.
- Clinically meaningful atherosclerotic changes may develop earlier in life than traditionally believed.
Abstract:
Autopsy findings of pre-atherosclerotic changes in the coronaries and other arteries of young soldiers killed in action in the Korean war stimulated studies on the mechanisms that regulate the development of atherosclerosis. The data confirmed that vascular changes obviously begin developing much earlier than the manifestation of clinical symptoms, and numerous risk factors for atherosclerosis have been firmly identified. The mechanisms consist of the effects of numerous poorly characterized genes and a complex mixture of environmental factors, dominated by factors associated with nutrition. Observational and epidemiological studies also showed that the pathogenesis is not restricted to the postnatal period. The nutrition of the fetus during the 40 weeks of pregnancy may also play an important role both directly and by determining metabolism in the individual more widely than was previously believed. At the same time, several studies suggested that biochemical predictors of atherosclerosis, e.g. a high concentration of serum LDL cholesterol, a low concentration of serum HDL cholesterol and other lipid and lipoprotein abnormalities, may already in early infancy and childhood predict values later in life quite well. We now review recent studies that deal with the effects of fetal and childhood nutrition on serum lipid values, and discuss the likelihood that clinically meaningful changes of atherosclerosis may appear earlier than expected.