Obesity and metabolic syndrome diseases have exploded into a global epidemic. Consumption of calorie-dense food and diminished physical activity are the generally accepted causes for obesity. But, could environmental factors expose preexisting genetic differences or exacerbate the root causes of diet and exercise? The environmental obesogen model proposes that chemical exposure during critical developmental stages influences subsequent adipogenesis, lipid balance and obesity. Obesogens are chemicals that stimulate adipogenesis and fat storage or alter the control of metabolism, appetite and satiety to promote weight gain. Tributyltin (TBT) is a high-affinity agonistic ligand for the retinoid X receptor (RXR) and peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma (PPARγ). RXR-PPARγ signaling is a key component in adipogenesis and the function of adipocytes; activation of this heterodimer increases adipose mass in rodents and humans. Thus, inappropriate activation of RXR-PPARγ can directly alter adipose tissue homeostasis. TBT exposure promoted adipocyte differentiation, modulated adipogenic genes and increased adiposity in mice after in utero exposure. These results suggest that organotin exposure is a previously unappreciated risk factor for the development of obesity and related disorders. Based on the observed effects of TBT on adipogenesis, we hypothesized that organotin exposure during prenatal adipose tissue development would create an environment that led to more adipocytes. We observed that the multipotent stromal cell compartment was altered by prenatal TBT exposure leading to an increased number of preadipocytes. This increase in the number of preadipocytes could correspondingly increase the steady state number of adipocytes in the adult, which could favor the development of obesity over time.

Tobacco smoke has both carcinogenic effects and anti-estrogenic properties and its inconsistent association with breast cancer risk in observational studies may be because of these competing effects across the lifecourse. We conducted a prospective study of prenatal smoke exposure, childhood household smoke exposure, and adult active smoke exposure and mammographic density, a strong intermediate marker of breast cancer risk, in an adult follow-up of existing US birth cohorts. Specifically, we followed up women who were born between 1959 and 1967 and whose mothers participated in either the Collaborative Perinatal Project (Boston and Providence sites) or the Childhood Health and Development Study in California. Of the 1134 women interviewed in adulthood (ranging in age from 39 to 49 years at interview), 79% had a screening mammogram. Cigarette smoking was reported by mothers at the time of their pregnancy; 40% of mothers smoked while pregnant. Women whose mothers smoked during pregnancy had a 3.1% (95% confidence interval (CI) = −6.0%, −0.2%) lower mammographic density than women whose mothers did not smoke during pregnancy. When we further accounted for adult body mass index and adult smoking status, the association remained (β = −2.7, 95% CI = −5.0, −0.3). When we examined patterns of smoking, prenatal smoke exposure without adult smoke exposure was associated with a 5.6% decrease in mammographic density (β = −5.6, 95% CI = −9.6, −1.6). Given the strength of mammographic density as an intermediate marker for breast cancer, the inverse associations between mammographic density and smoking patterns across the lifecourse may help explain the complex association between cigarette smoking and breast cancer risk.

Osteoprotegerin (OPG) is involved in the regulation of bone turnover, but little is known about this protein during pregnancy or among neonates. We undertook a prospective longitudinal study to identify relationships between OPG, markers of bone turnover and birth outcomes in 155 pregnant adolescents (13–18 years) and their newborns. Maternal blood samples were collected at mid-gestation and at delivery. Cord blood was obtained at delivery. Serum OPG, estradiol and markers of bone formation (osteocalcin) and resorption (N-telopeptide) were assessed in all samples. Placental OPG expression was assessed in placental tissue obtained at delivery. Bone markers and OPG increased significantly from mid-gestation (26.0 ± 3.4 weeks) to delivery (39.3 ± 2.6 weeks). Neonatal OPG was significantly lower, but bone turnover markers were significantly higher than maternal values at mid-gestation and at parturition (P < 0.001). African-American adolescents had higher concentrations of OPG than Caucasian adolescents at mid-gestation (P = 0.01) and delivery (P = 0.04). Gestational age and estradiol were also predictors of maternal OPG at mid-gestation and delivery. OPG concentrations in cord blood were correlated with maternal OPG concentrations and were negatively associated with infant birth weight z-score (P = 0.02) and ponderal index (P = 0.02). In conclusion, maternal OPG concentrations increased across gestation and were significantly higher than neonatal OPG concentrations. Maternal and neonatal OPG concentrations were not associated with markers of bone turnover or placental OPG expression, but neonatal OPG was inversely associated with neonatal anthropometric measures. Additional research is needed to identify roles of OPG during pregnancy.

Fetal growth restriction is a risk factor for development of adulthood diseases, but the biological mechanism of this association remains unknown. Limited biomarkers have been studied in settings of preterm birth and maternal inflammation, but the relationship between a wide range of immune biomarkers and fetal growth has not been studied. The hypothesis of this study was that fetal growth restriction is associated with altered immune biomarker levels. We examined the relationship between small for gestational age (SGA) status and 27 umbilical cord blood immune biomarkers. This study was part of a large-scale cohort study of preterm birth and low birth weight conducted at Boston Medical Center, an inner city, predominantly minority patient population. Growth status was determined based on birth weight standardized to an internal reference. There were 74 SGA births and 319 appropriate for age (AGA) births with complete clinical and biomarker data. Adjusting for covariates and using AGA as reference, SGA births had lower levels of log IL-1β (ng/l; β −0.38, 95% CI −0.57, −0.19, P < 0.01), log BDNF (β −0.29, 95% CI −0.55, −0.03, P < 0.05) and log NT-3 (β −0.46, 95% CI −0.77, −0.15, P < 0.01). No associations were found between other biomarkers and SGA. In conclusion, three biomarkers were selectively associated with SGA status. Our results provide information that could be used to guide additional studied aimed at determining mechanisms that contribute to fetal growth.

Hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), severe nausea and vomiting of pregnancy, is characterized by long-term maternal stress, undernutrition and dehydration. While maternal stress and malnutrition of pregnancy are linked to poor neonatal outcome and associated with poor adult health, long-term outcome of fetal exposure to HG has never been explored. The purpose of this study is to determine whether long-term emotional and behavioral diagnoses may be associated with fetal exposure to HG. Emotional and behavioral diagnoses of adults born of a pregnancy complicated by HG were compared to diagnoses from non-exposed controls. Offspring exposed to HG in utero were significantly more likely to have a psychological and behavioral disorder (OR = 3.6, P < 0.0001) with diagnoses primarily of depression, bipolar disorder and anxiety. In utero exposure to HG may lead to increased risks of psychological and behavioral disorders in the offspring.

The objectives of this study were to describe the prevalence of cigarette use and water pipe smoking in Jordanian university students and to analyze differences in determinants between cigarette smokers and non-smokers. A cross-sectional questionnaire was administered to a random sample of 400 students (18–24 years, 51% males). Smokers were compared with non-smokers on several smoking-related determinants. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, χ2 test and binary logistic regression analysis. The prevalence rates of cigarette use and water pipe smoking were 25.9% and 23.3%, respectively. Cigarette smokers differed significantly from non-smokers on almost all of the assessed determinants. The I-Change model explained 85% of the total variance of cigarette-smoking behavior. Cigarette smoking was determined by being male and older, having more depressive symptoms, having less Muslim identity, being more emancipated, perceiving more pros of smoking, having more modeling from peers and having lower self-efficacy. The popularity of cigarette use and water pipe smoking among Jordanian students necessitates health promotion interventions that motivate students not to engage in smoking behaviors by clearly outlining the outcomes of smoking and the healthier alternatives, how to cope with social influences and difficult situations in order to increase self-efficacy.

The discovery of a rare clear cell carcinoma of the vagina in young women gestationally exposed to the estrogen diethylstilbestrol (DES) lent empirical support to the hypothesis that prenatal exposure to xenoestrogens might cause cancer. This fact contradicted two well-accepted notions: (i) mammalian development was merely the unfolding of a genetic program and (ii) only mutagenic agents could cause cancer. The ecological developmental biology (eco–devo) movement revitalized the concept of developmental plasticity through the occurrence of polyphenisms whereby a single genotype produces diverse phenotypes which are determined by environmental cues. Based on the principles of eco–devo and the tissue organization field theory of carcinogenesis, we hypothesized that developmental exposure to xenoestrogens increased the propensity to develop mammary cancer during adulthood. Bisphenol-A (BPA), a ubiquitous xenoestrogen, was chosen as a model for environmental estrogen exposure. In mice, perinatal exposure to environmentally relevant BPA levels induced alterations of the mammary gland architecture which manifested during fetal morphogenesis and throughout life, including the development of pre-neoplastic lesions. In rats, gestational exposure to BPA induced pre-neoplastic lesions and carcinoma in situ that manifested in adulthood in the absence of any additional treatment. Emerging epidemiological data reveal an increased incidence of breast cancer in women exposed to DES during gestation. Hence, both animal experiments and epidemiological data strengthen the hypothesis that fetal exposure to xenoestrogens may be an underlying cause of the increased incidence of breast cancer observed over the past 50 years.

Our previous work suggests that stressors that impact placental vascular growth result in a deformed chorionic surface shape, which reflects an abnormal placental three-dimensional shape. We propose to use variability of placental disk thickness as a reflector of deviations in placental vascular growth at the finer level of the fetal stems. We hypothesize that increased variability of thickness is associated with abnormal chorionic surface shape, but will be a predictor of reduced placental functional efficiency (smaller baby for a given placental weight) independent of shape. These measures may shed light on the mechanisms linking placental growth to risk of adult disease. The sample was drawn from the Pregnancy, Infection and Nutrition Study. In all, 94.6% of the cohort consented to placental examination. Of the 1023 delivered at term, those previously sectioned by the Pathology Department were excluded, leaving 587 (57%) cases with intact placentas that were sliced and photographed. The chorionic surface shape and the shape of a central randomly oriented placental slice were analyzed and measures were compared using correlation. Lower mean placental disk thickness and more variable disk thickness were each strongly and significantly correlated with deformed chorionic plate shapes. More variable disk thickness was strongly correlated with reduced placental efficiency independent of abnormal chorionic surface shape. Variability of placental disk thickness, simple to measure in a single randomly oriented central slice, may be an easily acquired measure that is an independent indicator of lowered placental efficiency, which may in turn program the infant and result in increased risk for development of adult diseases.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) represent leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. We tested the hypothesis that growth restriction and preeclampsia (referred to as fetal risk) are significant predictors of these conditions, with women at higher risk in adulthood. Adult offspring exposed to fetal risk factors and their discordant siblings were from two prenatal cohorts, whose mothers were followed through pregnancy and whom we recruited as adults 40 years later (n = 538; 250 males and 288 females). Subjects were psychiatrically diagnosed and underwent a stress challenge during which parasympathetic regulation was assessed by electrocardiogram, operationalized as high-frequency R-R interval variability (HF-RRV). Linear mixed models and generalized estimating equations were used to examine the relationship of fetal risk on HF-RRV, MDD and comorbidity of low HF-RRV (lowest 25th percentile) and MDD, including interactions with sex and socioeconomic status (SES). Fetal risk was significantly associated with low HF-RRV response (F = 3.64, P = 0.05), particularly among low SES (interaction: F = 4.31, P < 0.04). When stratified by MDD, the fetal risk impact was three times greater among MDD compared with non-MDD subjects (effect size: 0.21 v. 0.06). Females had a significantly higher risk for the comorbidity of MDD and low HF-RRV than males (relative risk (RR) = 1.36, 95% CI: 1.07–1.73), an association only seen among those exposed to fetal risk (RR = 1.38, 95% CI: 1.04–1.83). Findings suggest that these are shared fetal antecedents to the comorbidity of MDD and CVD risk 40 years later, an association stronger in females than in males.

Birth weight for gestational age (BW/GA) has been associated with a risk of adverse health outcomes. Biological indices of pregnancy complications, maternal mid-pregnancy serum biomarkers and placental pathology may shed light on these associations, but at present, they are most often examined as single entities and offer little insight about overlap. In addition, these indices are typically assessed in relation to the extremes of the BW/GA distribution, leaving open the question of how they relate to the entire BW/GA distribution. Addressing issues such as these may help elucidate why postnatal health outcomes vary across the BW/GA continuum. In this study, we focused on a subset of women who participated in the Pregnancy Outcomes and Community Health Study (n = 1371). We examined BW/GA (i.e. gestational age and sex-referenced z-scores) in relation to obstetric complications, second trimester maternal serum screening results and histologic evidence of placental pathology along with maternal demographics, anthropometrics and substance use. In adjusted models, mean reductions in BW/GA z-scores were associated with preeclampsia (β = −0.70, 95% CI −1.04, −0.36), high maternal serum alpha fetoprotein (β = −0.28, 95% CI −0.43, −0.13), unconjugated estriol (β = −0.31/0.5 multiples of the median decrease, 95% CI −0.41, −0.21) and high levels of maternal obstructive vascular pathology in the placenta (β = −0.46, 95% CI −0.67, −0.25). The findings were similar when preterm infants, small-for-gestational age or large-for-gestational age infants were excluded. More research is needed to examine how the factors studied here might directly mediate or mark risk when evaluating the associations between BW/GA and postnatal health outcomes.

Experimental animal studies have shown that nicotine exposure during gestation alters the expression of fetal hypothalamic neuropeptides involved in the control of appetite. We aimed to determine whether the exposure to maternal smoking during gestation in humans is associated with an altered feeding behavior of the adult offspring. A longitudinal prospective cohort study was conducted including all births from Ribeirão Preto (São Paulo, Brazil) between 1978 and 1979. At 24 years of age, a representative random sample was re-evaluated and divided into groups exposed (n = 424) or not (n = 1586) to maternal smoking during gestation. Feeding behavior was analyzed using a food frequency questionnaire. Covariance analysis was used for continuous data and the χ2 test for categorical data. Results were adjusted for birth weight ratio, body mass index, gender, physical activity and smoking, as well as maternal and subjects’ schooling. Individuals exposed to maternal smoking during gestation ate more carbohydrates than proteins (as per the carbohydrate-to-protein ratio) than non-exposed individuals. There were no differences in the consumption of the macronutrients themselves. We propose that this adverse fetal life event programs the individual's physiology and metabolism persistently, leading to an altered feeding behavior that could contribute to the development of chronic diseases in the long term.

Advanced neuroimaging techniques offer unique insights into how childhood lead exposure impacts the brain. Volumetric magnetic resonance imaging affords anatomical information about the size of global, regional and subcomponent structures within the brain. Diffusion tensor imaging provides information about white matter architecture by quantitatively describing how water molecules diffuse within it. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy generates quantitative measures of neuronal, axonal and glial elements via concentration levels of select metabolites. Functional magnetic resonance imaging infers neuronal activity associated with a given task performed. Employing these techniques in the study of the Cincinnati Lead Study, a relatively homogeneous birth cohort longitudinally monitored for over 30 years, one can non-invasively and quantitatively explore how childhood lead exposure is associated with adult brain structure, organization and function. These studies yield important findings how environmental lead exposure impacts human health.

Growing evidence suggests obesity may have its roots in early life but it is still uncertain whether prenatal factors operate primarily though altering early infant growth. It is also still unclear if rapid growth during selected time periods is more important than other time periods in predicting future body size. Using prospectively collected data on 20,523 participants born from 1959 to 1966 (10,327 boys; 10,196 girls) of the Collaborative Perinatal Project, we investigated the associations between pre- and postnatal factors and childhood body size at age 7 years and compared these associations across linear, logistic and quantile regression models. Maternal body mass index (BMI), maternal pregnancy weight gain, birth weight and postnatal weight change for three time periods (birth to 4 months; 4–12 months; 1–4 years) were all positively and independently associated with BMI at age 7 years. Rapid growth during each time period had a similar association BMI at age 7 years. For example, a 10-percentile increase in weight increased the probability of being overweight at age 7 years by approximately two-fold regardless of time period (OR = 1.8–2.2 for boys and girls). Using same-sex siblings (n = 571 boy sets; n = 651 girl sets) from the same cohort, we observed that siblings with higher BMI at age 7 years than their same-sex siblings were more likely to have higher maternal pregnancy weight gain, higher maternal pre-pregnancy BMI, higher birth weight and increased rate of weight gain during the three time periods. These consistent findings both from the overall cohort and the sibling analyses suggest that there are multiple, rather than specific critical periods of influence shaping childhood body size.

Linoleic acid and α-linolenic acid are essential fatty acids (eFAs) and have to be acquired from the diet. eFAs are the precursors for long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (lcPUFAs), which are important immune-modulating compounds. lcPUFAs can be converted into eicosanoids and other mediators. They affect membrane structure and fluidity and can alter gene expression. There has been a marked change in dietary fatty acid intake over the last several decades. Since eFAs are acquired from the diet and immune development occurs mainly perinatally, the maternal diet may influence fetal and neonatal eFA levels, and thereby lcPUFA status, and thus immune development and function. To study whether early exposure to eFAs can program immune function, mice were fed diets varying in the ratio of ω-3 to ω-6-eFAs during pregnancy and/or lactation. After weaning, pups received a Western-style diet. At 11 weeks of age, the effects of maternal diet on the offspring's allergic and vaccination responses were examined using the T-helper 2 driven ovalbumin-induced allergy model and the T-helper 1 driven influenza-vaccination model, respectively. Offspring of dams fed a high α-linolenic acid diet during lactation showed an enhanced vaccination response. As diets with either low or high ω-3/ω-6-eFA ratio attenuated the T-helper 2 allergic response, the high α-linolenic acid diet fed during lactation had the most pronounced effect. These results indicate that there is a programming effect of maternal diet on the offspring's immune response and that in mice the window of greatest susceptibility to maternal dietary intervention is the lactation/suckling period.

Rodents, particularly rats, are used in the majority of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) research. An important tool that is lacking in this field is the ability to impose IUGR on transgenic mice. We therefore developed a novel mouse model of chronic IUGR using U-46619, a thromboxane A2 (TXA2) analog, infusion. TXA2 overproduction is prevalent in human pregnancies complicated by cigarette smoking, diabetes mellitus and preeclampsia. In this model, U-46619 micro-osmotic pump infusion in the last week of C57BL/6J mouse gestation caused maternal hypertension. IUGR pups weighed 15% less, had lighter brain, lung, liver and kidney weights, but had similar nose-to-anus lengths compared with sham pups at birth. Metabolically, IUGR pups showed increased essential branched-chain amino acids. They were normoglycemic yet hypoinsulinemic. They showed decreased hepatic mRNA levels of total insulin-like growth factor-1 and its variants, but increased level of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator-1 alpha. IUGR offspring were growth restricted from birth (P1) through postnatal day 21 (P21). IUGR males caught up with sham males in weight by P28, whereas IUGR females caught up with sham females by P77. IUGR males surpassed sham males in weight by P238. In summary, we have a non-brain sparing IUGR mouse model that has a relative ease of surgical IUGR induction and exhibits features similar to the chronic IUGR offspring of humans and other animal models. As transgenic technology predominates in mice, this model now permits the imposition of IUGR on transgenic mice to interrogate mechanisms of fetal origins of adult disease.

We investigated the effects of a postnatal fructose diet on the programmed hypertension and vascular and renal dysfunction in offspring from dams exposed to protein restriction. Pregnant Wistar rats were fed control and low-protein diets during the gestation and suckling periods. From the end of lactation, male offspring received standard chow or a 60% fructose diet: a control diet in the gestation and suckling periods and a control diet from the end of lactation, control-on-control (CC), 60% fructose diet-on-control (CF), control-on-low-protein diet (LPC) and 60% fructose diet-on-low-protein diet (LPF). The systolic blood pressure (SBP) was measured during treatment. At postnatal days 94–101, urinary 24 h nitrate/nitrite (NOx) content, protein levels of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and mRNA levels of endothelin-1 (ET-1), and NAD(P)H oxidase subunits in the aorta and kidney were examined. The SBP at postnatal days 97–101 increased in CF (137 ± 2 mmHg, P < 0.05), LPC (135 ± 1 mmHg, P < 0.05) and LPF (141 ± 2 mmHg, P < 0.05), compared with CC (124 ± 1 mmHg). The urinary NOx contents and eNOS phosphorylation in the aorta and kidney of CF, LPC and LPF decreased when compared with CC. In the aorta, the mRNA levels of NAD(P)H oxidase subunits p47phox in LPC and ET-1 in LPC and LPF increased. These results indicate that maternal protein restriction elevated the blood pressure, the downregulated nitric oxide production and eNOS phosphorylation, whereas the postnatal fructose diet made no significant difference to these alterations.

There is evidence that fetal exposure to maternal stress is associated with adverse birth outcomes. Less is known about the association between fetal responses to a stressor and indicators of fetal maturity and developmental outcomes. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether fetal heart rate (FHR) patterns in response to a startling stimulus at ∼30 weeks of gestation were associated with gestational age at birth and birth weight. FHR was measured in 156 maternal–fetal dyads following a vibroacoustic stimulus. All pregnancies were singleton intrauterine pregnancies in English-speaking women who were primarily married, middle class, White and at least 18 years of age. Group-based trajectory modeling identified five groups of fetuses displaying distinctive longitudinal trajectories of FHR response to the startling stimulus. The FHR group trajectories were significantly associated with birth weight percentile (P < 0.01) even after controlling for estimated fetal weight at the time of assessment and parity, which are the known factors influencing birth weight (P < 0.01). Post hoc analyses indicated that two groups accounted for the association between FHR patterns and birth weight. The group (n = 23) with the lowest birth weight exhibited an immediate FHR deceleration followed by an immediate acceleration that does not recover. An FHR pattern characterized by immediate and fast acceleration to the peak and a slow discovery to baseline was associated with the highest birth weight. This is the first direct evidence showing that low birth weight and the resulting neurological consequences may have their origins in early fetal development.

Both reductions in birth weight and preeclampsia (PE) have been associated with decrements in scores on tests of intelligence in children and adolescents. We examined whether these decrements persist into middle adulthood and expand into other domains of cognitive functioning. Using data from the Early Determinants of Adult Health project and from the ancillary project, Fetal Antecedents of Major Depression and Cardiovascular Disease, we selected term same-sex sibling sets or singletons from these sets, from the New England Family Study (NEFS) and the Child Health and Development Studies (CHDS), discordant on either fetal growth or PE, to test the hypotheses that prenatal exposure to inflammation was associated with decrements in attention, learning and executive function 40 years later. Exposure was defined as a continuous measure of percentile birth weight for gestational age, reduced fetal growth (<20th percentile of birth weight for gestational age) or maternal PE. Given that the sample was comprised, in part, of sibling sets, the analyses were performed using mixed models to account for the inter-sibling correlations. Analyses were performed separately by study site (i.e. NEFS and CHDS). We found few statistically significant associations (suggesting a possible type II error) consistent with previous literature, suggesting that the associations with low birth weight do not persist into midlife. We discuss the possible reasons for the lack of associations, which include the possible mediating effects of the postnatal environment.