Prenatal factors influencing long-term outcome

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Nov 1, 2026

Modeling Encephalopathy of Prematurity Using Prenatal Hypoxia-ischemia with Intra-amniotic Lipopolysaccharide in Rats
07:36

Modeling Encephalopathy of Prematurity Using Prenatal Hypoxia-ischemia with Intra-amniotic Lipopolysaccharide in Rats

Published on: November 20, 2015

E Dennison1, C Fall, C Cooper

  • 1MRC Environmental Epidemiology Unit, Southampton General Hospital, UK.

Hormone Research
|January 1, 1997
PubMed

Insights

Fetal undernutrition can cause lasting metabolic and physiological changes, increasing coronary heart disease risk in adults. These effects are linked to altered fetal placental hormones and tissue sensitivity during gestation.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental biology
  • Endocrinology
  • Public health

Background:

  • Prenatal undernutrition is linked to long-term health issues in animal models.
  • Human studies associate low birth weight and small size with higher coronary heart disease rates.
  • Early life growth patterns are critical for adult disease risk.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the link between fetal undernutrition at different gestational stages and observed patterns of early growth.
  • To understand how fetal adaptations to undernutrition, mediated by hormones, influence adult disease.
  • To connect fetal programming with adult coronary heart disease.

Main Methods:

  • Review of animal and human studies on fetal development and undernutrition.
  • Analysis of hormonal changes during fetal development in response to nutritional status.
  • Examination of the relationship between birth parameters and adult coronary heart disease.

Main Results:

  • Animal studies demonstrate persistent metabolic, physiological, and structural changes due to prenatal undernutrition.
  • Human data show increased coronary heart disease rates in individuals with lower birth weights or smaller size relative to placental size.
  • Fetal adaptations to undernutrition involve alterations in fetal placental hormone concentrations.

Conclusions:

  • Fetal undernutrition, particularly at critical gestational periods, can program long-term health outcomes.
  • Changes in fetal placental hormone levels and subsequent tissue sensitivity are potential mechanisms linking prenatal nutrition to adult coronary heart disease.
  • Understanding these early life programming effects is crucial for preventing adult chronic diseases.

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