Developmental programming of girdiovascular dysfunction

Abstract

Population based studies of developmental programming of adulthood cardiovascular disease have implied associations between intrauterine growth restriction and a range of adulthood indices of cardiovascular dysfunction and risk. Whilst the emphasis has been on the programming of hypertension, there is also evidence for an impact of the early life environment on later development of vascular endothelial dilator dysfunction and associated risk factors including inflammatory and thrombogenic bio-markers, dyslipidaemia and vascular compliance. In animal models, researchers have been more circumspect in the cardiovascular parameters studied and it is not always possible to draw parallels with the human situation. There is, nonetheless, strong evidence for developmental programming of reduced endothelium dependent dilatation in a variety of models of maternal nutritional imbalance which share similarity with the human data and may imply an important role in the aetiology of develop mentally induced cardiovascular risk. Studies of inflammatory bio-markers, lipid profiles and compliance in animal models are too few to allow comparison. Increasing evidence for altered sympathetic activity in man and animals provides an important channel for future research effort. ©2006 Eurekah.com and Springer Science+Business Media.