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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 28, 2026

Instrumentation of Near-term Fetal Sheep for Multivariate Chronic Non-anesthetized Recordings

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Published on: October 25, 2015

A common cause for a common phenotype: the gatekeeper hypothesis in fetal programming.

S McMullen¹, S C Langley-Evans, L Gambling

¹School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington, Loughborough LE12 5RD, UK.

Medical Hypotheses

|November 4, 2011

Summary

Maternal suboptimal nutrition during pregnancy can lead to offspring metabolic syndrome, including hypertension and obesity. This study proposes a "gatekeeper hypothesis," suggesting common gene pathways mediate these long-term health effects regardless of the specific nutritional insult.

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Determining the Role of Maternally-Expressed Genes in Early Development with Maternal Crispants

Determining the Role of Maternally-Expressed Genes in Early Development with Maternal Crispants

Published on: December 21, 2021

Area of Science:

Developmental biology
Nutritional science
Metabolic disorders

Background:

Sub-optimal nutrition during pregnancy has long-term health consequences for offspring.
Common outcomes include hypertension, obesity, dyslipidaemia, and insulin resistance, collectively termed metabolic syndrome.
Nutritional insults during early development, such as low protein, high fat, or iron deficiency diets in rats, are linked to metabolic and cardiovascular disorders.

Purpose of the Study:

To propose the

Main Methods:

Literature review and hypothesis formulation.
Examination of existing research on nutritional programming.
Postulation of potential molecular mechanisms and gene pathways.

Main Results:

Identification of a unifying hypothesis for diverse nutritional insults.
Proposal of

Conclusions:

Nutritional insults during pregnancy may converge on common genetic pathways, termed