Factors in Early-Life Programming of Reproductive Fitness
Luba Sominsky1, Erin A Fuller, Deborah M Hodgson
1Laboratory of Neuroimmunology, School of Psychology, Faculty of Science and IT, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, N.S.W., Australia.
Abstract:
Fertility rates have been declining worldwide, with a growing number of young women suffering from infertility. Infectious and inflammatory diseases are important causes of infertility, and recent evidence points to the critical role of the early-life microbial environment in developmental programming of adult reproductive fitness. Our laboratory and others have demonstrated that acute exposure to an immunological challenge early in life has a profound and prolonged impact on male and female reproductive development. This review presents evidence that perinatal exposure to immunological challenge by a bacterial endotoxin, lipopolysaccharide, acts at all levels of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis, resulting in long-lasting changes in reproductive function, suggesting that disposition to infertility may begin early in life.
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