Developmental origins of health and disease: Current knowledge and potential mechanisms

TY - JOUR

T1 - Developmental origins of health and disease

T2 - Current knowledge and potential mechanisms

AU - Hoffman, Daniel J.

AU - Reynolds, Rebecca M.

AU - Hardy, Daniel B.

N1 - Funding Information: Funding. DJH is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID EPA-A-00-09-00004) and the Busch Biomdeical Foundation. RMR is funded by the British Heart Foundation and Tommy’s. DBH is funded by Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR MOP 111001). Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2017 Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Life Sciences Institute.

PY - 2017/12/1

Y1 - 2017/12/1

N2 - Epidemiologic and clinical research has provided a large body of evidence supporting the developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD), but there has been a relative dearth of mechanistic studies in humans due to the complexity of working with large, longitudinal cohorts. Nonetheless, animal models of undernutrition have provided substantial evidence for the potential epigenetic, metabolic, and endocrine mechanisms behind DOHaD. Furthermore, recent research has explored the interaction between the environment and the gastrointestinal system by investigating how the gut microbial ecology may impact the capacity for nutrient processing and absorption in a manner that may limit growth. This review presents a summary of current research that supports the concept of DOHaD, as well as potential mechanisms and interactions that explain how nutrition in utero and during early childhood influences lifelong health.

AB - Epidemiologic and clinical research has provided a large body of evidence supporting the developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD), but there has been a relative dearth of mechanistic studies in humans due to the complexity of working with large, longitudinal cohorts. Nonetheless, animal models of undernutrition have provided substantial evidence for the potential epigenetic, metabolic, and endocrine mechanisms behind DOHaD. Furthermore, recent research has explored the interaction between the environment and the gastrointestinal system by investigating how the gut microbial ecology may impact the capacity for nutrient processing and absorption in a manner that may limit growth. This review presents a summary of current research that supports the concept of DOHaD, as well as potential mechanisms and interactions that explain how nutrition in utero and during early childhood influences lifelong health.

KW - Developmental origins

KW - Disease

KW - Epigenetics

KW - Fetal origins

KW - Glucocorticoids

KW - Health

KW - Obesity

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85042786624&partnerID=8YFLogxK

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U2 - https://doi.org/10.1093/nutrit/nux053

DO - https://doi.org/10.1093/nutrit/nux053

M3 - Article

C2 - 29186623

SN - 0029-6643

VL - 75

SP - 951

EP - 970

JO - Nutrition Reviews

JF - Nutrition Reviews

IS - 12

ER -