Fetal programming

Abstract

The term Early Origin of Adult Diseases explains the early onset of abnormal cardiovascular and metabolic conditions in adult life, increased risk of morbidity and death associated with environmental factors, especially nutritional factors, that act in the early stages of life. These programmed responses depend on the nature of the stimulus or noxa, the time of exposure and the moment of occurrence of the noxa, with a single original genotype being able to have several phenotypes and would be conditioned by critical criteria in which long-term changes could develop, reversibles or not. Fetal Programming explains that embryonic and fetal adaptive responses in a suboptimal environment generate permanent adverse consequences. Fetal malnutrition as overnutrition increases the risk of developing alterations in fetal body weight and composition, and subsequently obesity, metabolic syndrome, increased adiposity, impaired glucose and / or insulin metabolism, impaired lipid metabolism, liver disorders and altered blood pressure. The genomic imprint is essential for development and defects in it can cause alterations of the parental identity and are transmitted to the following generations. This fetal programming can be explained by epigenetics, defined as the series of inherited alterations of genetic expression through modifications of DNA and central histones without changes in the DNA sequence. These epigenetic modifications alter the structure and condensation of chromatin, affecting the expression of the genotype and phenotype. This article develops the aspects involved in Fetal Programming and the possible mechanisms on it.