Seminars in Fetal & Neonatal Medicine
Volume 11, Issue 2 , Pages 73-78 , April 2006

Fetal origins of adult disease

  • Ruth Morley

      Affiliations

    • Corresponding Author InformationTel.: +61 3 9345 6552; fax: +61 3 9345 6667.

References 

  1. Ellison RC, Harper GP, Rivinus TM, Lere TJ, Miettenen OS. Gestational and Perinatal factors as determinants of childhood blood pressure. CVD Epidemiology Newsletter. January 1979;26:69;[Abstr]
  2. Simpson A, Mortimer JG, Silva PA, Spears G, Williams S. Correlates of blood pressure in a cohort of Dunedin 7-year-old children. In:  Onesti G,  Kim KE editor. Hypertension in the young and old. New York: Grune and Stratton; 1981;p. 155–163
  3. Cater J, Gill M. The follow-up study: medical aspects. In:  Illsey R,  Mitchell RG editor. Low birthweight, a medical, psychological and social study. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons; 1984;p. 191–205
  4. Wadsworth ME, Cripps HA, Midwinter RE, Colley JR. Blood pressure in a national birth cohort at the age of 36 related to social and familial factors, smoking, and body mass. BMJ. 1985;291:1534–1538
  5. Ounsted MK, Cockburn JM, Moar VA, Redman CW. Factors associated with the blood pressures of children born to women who were hypertensive during pregnancy. Arch Dis Childhood. 1985;60:631–635
  6. Gennser G, Rymark P, Isberg PE. Low birthweight and risk of high blood pressure in adulthood. BMJ. 1988;296:1498–1500
  7. Barker DJP. Low birthweight and hypertension. BMJ Lett. 1988;297:134–135
  8. ∗ Barker DJP. Programming the baby. In: Mothers, babies and health in later life. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone; 1998;p. 13–41
  9. Henriksen T, Clausen T. The fetal origins hypothesis: placental insufficiency and inheritance versus maternal malnutrition in well-nourished populations. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 2002;81:112–114
  10. Leon D, Koupilova I. Birthweight, blood pressure and hypertension: epidemiologic studies. In:  Barker DJP editors. Fetal origins of cardiovascular and lung disease. New York: Marcel Dekker; 1999;p. 23–48
  11. Law CM, Shiell AW. Is blood pressure inversely related to birth weight? The strength of evidence from a systematic review of the literature. J Hypertens. 1996;14:935–941
  12. Huxley R, Neil A, Collins R. Unravelling the fetal origins hypothesis: is there really an inverse association between birthweight and subsequent blood pressure?. Lancet. 2002;360:659–665
  13. Adair L, Dahly D. Developmental determinants of blood pressure in adults. Annu Rev Nutr. 2005;25:407–434
  14. Barker DJ, Eriksson JG, Forsen T, Osmond C. Fetal origins of adult disease: strength of effects and biological basis. Int J Epidemiol. 2002;31:1235–1239
  15. Lundgren EM, Cnattingius HM, Jonsson GB, Tuvemo TH. Linear catch-up growth does not increase the risk of elevated blood pressure and reduces the risk of overweight in males. J Hypertens. 2001;19:1533–1538
  16. Curhan GC, Willett WC, Rimm EB, Spiegelman D, Ascherio AL, Stampfer MJ. Birth weight and adult hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and obesity in US men. Circulation. 1996;94:3246–3250
  17. Curhan GC, Chertow GM, Willett WC, Spiegelman D, Colditz GA, Manson JE, et al. Birth weight and adult hypertension and obesity in women. Circulation. 1996;94:1310–1315
  18. Zhao M, Shu XO, Jin F, Yang G, Li HL, Liu DK, et al. Birthweight, childhood growth and hypertension in adulthood. Int J Epidemiol. 2002;31:1043–1051
  19. Newsome CA, Shiell AW, Fall CH, Phillips DI, Shier R, Law CM. Is birth weight related to later glucose and insulin metabolism? – A systematic review. Diabet Med. 2003;20:339–348
  20. Rich-Edwards JW, Colditz GA, Stampfer MJ, Willett WC, Gillman MW, Hennekens CH, et al. Birthweight and the risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus in adult women. Ann Intern Med. 1999;130:278–284
  21. Leon DA, Lithell HO, Vagero D, Koupilova I, Mohsen R, Berglund L, et al. Reduced fetal growth rate and increased risk of death from ischaemic heart disease: cohort study of 15 000 Swedish men and women born 1915–29. BMJ. 1998;317:241–245
  22. Lawlor DA, Ronalds G, Clark H, Smith GD, Leon DA. Birth weight is inversely associated with incident coronary heart disease and stroke among individuals born in the 1950s: findings from the Aberdeen Children of the 1950s prospective cohort study. Circulation. 2005;112:1414–1418
  23. Rich-Edwards JW, Kleinman K, Michels KB, Stampfer MJ, Manson JE, Rexrode KM, et al. Longitudinal study of birth weight and adult body mass index in predicting risk of coronary heart disease and stroke in women. BMJ. 2005;330:1115
  24. Hypponen E, Leon DA, Kenward MG, Lithell H. Prenatal growth and risk of occlusive and haemorrhagic stroke in Swedish men and women born 1915–29: historical cohort study. BMJ. 2001;323:1033–1034
  25. Shaikh S, Bloomfield FH, Bauer MK, Phua HH, Gilmour RS, Harding JE. Amniotic IGF-I supplementation of growth-restricted fetal sheep alters IGF-I and IGF receptor type 1 mRNA and protein levels in placental and fetal tissues. J Endocrinol. 2005;186:145–155
  26. Wlodek ME, Westcott KT, O'Dowd R, Serruto A, Wassef L, Moritz KM, et al. Uteroplacental restriction in the rat impairs fetal growth in association with alterations in placental growth factors including PTHrP. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2005;288:R1620–R1627
  27. Bellinger L, Langley-Evans SC. Fetal programming of appetite by exposure to a maternal low-protein diet in the rat. Clin Sci (Lond). 2005;109:413–420
  28. McMillen IC, Robinson JS. Developmental origins of the metabolic syndrome: prediction, plasticity, and programming. Physiol Rev. 2005;85:571–633
  29. ∗ Kramer MS. Association between restricted fetal growth and adult chronic disease: is it causal? Is it important?. Am J Epidemiol. 2000;152:605–608
  30. ∗ Morley R, Owens J, Blair E, Dwyer T. Is birthweight a good marker for gestational exposures that increase risk of adult disease?. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol. 2002;16:194–199
  31. Lucas A, Fewtrell MS, Cole TJ. Fetal origins of adult disease-the hypothesis revisited. BMJ. 1999;319:245–249
  32. Lawlor DA, Najman JM, Sterne J, Williams GM, Ebrahim S, Davey Smith G. Associations of parental, birth, and early life characteristics with systolic blood pressure at 5 years of age: findings from the Mater-University study of pregnancy and its outcomes. Circulation. 2004;110:2417–2423
  33. Whincup P, Cook D, Papacosta O, Walker M, Perry I. Maternal factors and development of cardiovascular risk: evidence from a study of blood pressure in children. J Hum Hypertens. 1994;8:337–343
  34. Ceesay SM, Prentice AM, Cole TJ, Foord F, Weaver LT, Poskitt EM, et al. Effects on birth weight and perinatal mortality of maternal dietary supplements in rural Gambia: 5 year randomised controlled trial. BMJ. 1997;315:786–790
  35. ∗ Morley R, Dwyer T. Studies of twins: what can they tell us about the fetal origins of adult disease?. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol. 2005;S1:2–7
  36. Carlin JB, Gurrin LC, Sterne JA, Morley R, Dwyer T. Regression models for twin studies: a critical review. Int J Epidemiol. 2005;34(5):1089–1099
  37. Phillips DI, Davies MJ, Robinson JS. Fetal growth and the fetal origins hypothesis in twins-problems and perspectives. Twin Res. 2001;4:327–331
  38. Davies MJ. Fetal programming: the perspective of single and twin pregnancies. Reprod Fertil Dev. 2005;17:379–386
  39. ∗ Morley R. Can we generalise from findings in twins?. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol. 2005;19(Suppl. 1):54–59
  40. Vagero D, Leon D. Ischaemic heart disease and low birth weight: a test of the fetal-origins hypothesis from the Swedish Twin Registry. Lancet. 1994;343:260–263
  41. Tuya C, Mutch WJ, Broom I, Campbell DM, McNeill G. Size at birth, fasting glucose and insulin levels and insulin resistance in adult twins. Twin Res. 2003;6:302–306
  42. Jefferies CA, Hofman PL, Wong W, Robinson EM, Cutfield WS. Increased nocturnal blood pressure in healthy prepubertal twins. J Hypertens. 2003;21:1319–1324
  43. Jefferies CA, Cutfield WS, Robinson EM, Hofman PL. Twin children are insulin resistant and have ambulatory BP abnormalities irrespective of birth weight or gestational age. Pediatr Res. 2003;53(Suppl):9A
  44. Iliadou A, Cnattingius S, Lichtenstein P. Low birthweight and Type 2 diabetes: A study on 11,162 Swedish twins. Int J Epidemiol. 2004;33:948–953
  45. Rona RJ, Qureshi S, Chinn S. Factors related to total cholesterol and blood pressure in British 9 year olds. J Epidemiol Community Health. 1996;50:512–518
  46. Leon DA, Lithell HO, Vagero D, Koupilova I, Mohsen R, Berglund L, et al. Reduced fetal growth rate and increased risk of death from ischaemic heart disease: cohort study of 15,000 Swedish men and women born 1915–29. BMJ. 1998;317:241–245
  47. Poulsen P, Vaag A, Beck-Nielsen H. The influence of zygosity status on blood pressure and on lipid profiles in male and female twins. J Hypertens. 2002;20:645–649
  48. Poulsen P, Vaag A, Beck-Nielsen H. Does zygosity influence the metabolic profile of twins? A population based cross sectional study. BMJ. 1999;319:151–154
  49. Christensen K, Vaupel JW, Holm NV, Yashin AI. Mortality among twins after age 6: fetal origins hypothesis versus twin method. BMJ. 1995;310:432–436
  50. Stein Z, Susser M, Saenger G, et al. Famine and human development. The Dutch hunger winter of 1944–5. New York: Oxford University Press; 1975;p. 119–48
  51. McCance RA, Widdowson EM. Glimpses of comparative fetal growth and development. In:  Falkner F,  Tanner JM editor. 2nd ed.. Human growth. vol. 1:New York: Plenum Press; 1985;p. 133–151
  52. ∗ Belizan JM, Villar J, Bergel E, del Pino A, Di Fulvio S, Galliano SV, et al. Long-term effect of calcium supplementation during pregnancy on the blood pressure of offspring: follow up of a randomised controlled trial. BMJ. 1997;315:281–285
  53. Roseboom TJ, van Der Meulen JH, Osmond C, Barker DJ, Ravelli AC, Schroeder-Tanka JM, et al. Coronary heart disease after prenatal exposure to the Dutch famine, 1944–45. Heart. 2000;84:595–598
  54. Roseboom TJ, van Der Meulen JH, Osmond C, Barker DJ, Ravelli AC, Bleker OP. Plasma lipid profiles in adults after prenatal exposure to the Dutch famine. Am J Clin Nutr. 2000;72:1101–1106
  55. Ravelli AC, van Der Meulen JH, Michels RP, Osmond C, Barker DJ, Hales CN, et al. Glucose tolerance in adults after prenatal exposure to famine. Lancet. 1998;351:173–177
  56. Stanner SA, Bulmer K, Andres C. Does malnutrition in utero determine diabetes and coronary heart disease in adulthood?. BMJ. 1997;315:1242–1249
  57. ∗ Demerath EW, Cameron N, Gillman MW, Towne B, Siervogel RM. Telomeres and telomerase in the fetal origins of cardiovascular disease: a review. Hum Biol. 2004;76:127–146
  58. ∗ Lee HK, Park KS, Cho YM, Lee YY, Pak YK. Mitochondria-based model for fetal origin of adult disease and insulin resistance. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2005;1042:1–18
  59. ∗ Waterland RA, Jirtle RL. Early nutrition, epigenetic changes at transposons and imprinted genes, and enhanced susceptibility to adult chronic diseases. Nutrition. 2004;20:63–68
  60. ∗ Chong S, Whitelaw E. Epigenetic germline inheritance. Curr Opin Genet Dev. 2004;14:692–696
  61. ∗ The important references are indicated with asterisks.

PII: S1744-165X(05)00094-6

doi: 10.1016/j.siny.2005.11.001

Seminars in Fetal & Neonatal Medicine
Volume 11, Issue 2 , Pages 73-78 , April 2006

Article Tools