Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
2810390 Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism 2013 11 Pages PDF
Abstract

•Nutritional programming causes insulin resistance in offspring.•Effects of nutritional programming could be transmitted across generations.•Interventions are being explored to prevent the effects of nutritional programming.

Strong evidence indicates that adverse prenatal and early postnatal environments have a significant long-term influence on risk factors that result in insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes (T2D), and cardiovascular disease later in life. Here we discuss current knowledge of how maternal and neonatal nutrition influence early growth and the long-term risk of developing insulin resistance in different organs and at the whole-body level. Accumulating evidence supports a role for epigenetic mechanisms underlying this nutritional programming, consisting of heritable changes that regulate gene expression which in turn shapes the phenotype across generations. Deciphering these molecular mechanisms in key tissues and discovering key biological markers may provide valuable insight towards the development of effective intervention strategies.

Related Topics
Life Sciences Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology Endocrinology
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