| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
|
|
|
|||||||
|
|||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Topical Reviews |
Departments of
1 Obstetrics and Gynecology
2 Physiology and Pharmacology
3 Medicine
4 Heart Research Center
5 Portland VA Medical Center, Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, OR 97034-3098, USA
The intrauterine environment plays a powerful role in determining the life-long risk of cardiovascular disease. A number of stressors are well known to affect the development of the cardiovascular system in utero including over/under maternal nutrition, excess glucocorticoid and chronic hypoxia. Chronic fetal anaemia in sheep is a complex stressor that alters cardiac loading conditions, causes hypoxic stress and stimulates large changes in flow to specific tissues, including large increases in resting coronary blood flow and conductance. Decreased viscosity can account for approximately half of the increased flow. It appears that immature hearts are ‘plastic’ in that increases in coronary conductance with fetal anaemia persist into adulthood even if the anaemia is corrected before birth. These large changes in conductance are possible only through extensive remodelling of the coronary tree. Adult hearts that were once anaemic in utero are more resistant to hypoxic stress as adults but it is not known whether such an adaptation would be deleterious in later life. These studies indicate the need for investigation into the basic mechanisms of coronary tree remodelling in the immature myocardium. New information on these mechanisms is likely to lead to better prevention of and therapies for adult-onset coronary disease.
(Received 31 December 2004;
accepted after revision 9 March 2005;
first published online 10 March 2005)
Corresponding author L. Davis: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Oregon Health Sciences University, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road, Portland, OR 97201-3098, USA. Email: davislo{at}ohsu.edu
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  P. D. Gluckman, M. A. Hanson, C. Cooper, and K. L. Thornburg Effect of In Utero and Early-Life Conditions on Adult Health and Disease N. Engl. J. Med., July 3, 2008; 359(1): 61 - 73. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 K. Meyer and Lubo Zhang Fetal Programming of Cardiac Function and Disease Reproductive Sciences, April 1, 2007; 14(3): 209 - 216. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 S. S. Jonker, L. Zhang, S. Louey, G. D. Giraud, K. L. Thornburg, and J. J. Faber Myocyte enlargement, differentiation, and proliferation kinetics in the fetal sheep heart J Appl Physiol, March 1, 2007; 102(3): 1130 - 1142. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
Y. Dong and L. P. Thompson Differential Expression of Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase in Coronary and Cardiac Tissue in Hypoxic Fetal Guinea Pig Hearts Reproductive Sciences, October 1, 2006; 13(7): 483 - 490. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 R. R. Magness and L. Poston Molecular, cellular and endocrine signalling in the perinatal cardiovascular system: interplay and developmental programming J. Physiol., May 15, 2005; 565(1): 1 - 1. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
