Fetal and Maternal Medicine Review

Table of Contents - 2010 - Volume 21, Issue 03  

Cambridge Journals Online - CUP Full-Text Page
Fetal and Maternal Medicine Review (2010), 21:204-224 Cambridge University Press
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010
doi:10.1017/S0965539510000057

Research Article

EPIGENETIC PROGRAMMING AND FETAL GROWTH RESTRICTIONS

JOSE CARLOS FERREIRAa1a4, SANAA CHOUFANIa1, JOHN KINGDOMa2a4 and ROSANNA WEKSBERGa1a3a4 c1

a1 Program in Genetics and Genome Biology, Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada
a2 Maternal–Fetal Medicine Division, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada
a3 Division of Clinical and Metabolic Genetics, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
a4 University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
Article author query
ferreira jc [PubMed]  [Google Scholar]
choufani s [PubMed]  [Google Scholar]
kingdom j [PubMed]  [Google Scholar]
weksberg r [PubMed]  [Google Scholar]

Normal fetal growth and development depends on multiple molecular mechanisms that coordinate both placental and fetal development. Efforts to better understand fetal/placental growth dysregulation and fetal growth restriction (FGR) are now being driven by several findings that highlight the longterm impact of FGR on susceptibility to disease. The association of poor fetal growth to perinatal medical complications is well accepted but more recent data also show that FGR is linked to common, serious adult health problems. Several large-scale human epidemiological studies from diverse countries have shown that conditions such as coronary heart disease, hypertension, stroke, type 2 diabetes mellitus, adiposity, insulin resistance and osteoporosis are more prevalent in individuals with a history of low birthweight.

(Online publication June 03 2010)

Correspondence:

c1 Rosanna Weksberg, Hospital for Sick Children, Division of Clinical and Metabolic Genetics, 525 University Avenue, Suite 940, 9th Floor, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1X8 Canada. Email address: rweksb@sickkids.ca