HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 295/6/R1941    most recent 90724.2008v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (4) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Gilbert, J. S. Articles by Nijland, M. J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Gilbert, J. S. Articles by Nijland, M. J.

REVIEW ARTICLE

DEVELOPMENTAL PHYSIOLOGY AND PREGNANCY

Sex differences in the developmental origins of hypertension and cardiorenal disease

¹Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Minnesota Medical School Duluth; ²Duluth Medical Research Institut, Duluth, Minnesota; and ³The Center for Pregnancy and Newborn Research and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, Texas

Submitted 26 August 2008 ; accepted in final form 2 October 2008

ABSTRACT

The "developmental origins of health and disease" (DOHAD) hypothesis derives from clinical observations, indicating long-term health consequences for persons of low birth weight. There is growing evidence, primarily from animal studies, that supports the idea that processes put in motion during development that contribute to DOHAD do not necessarily reflect as significantly compromised growth and altered birth weight. Throughout the body of work investigating the DOHAD hypothesis, several themes have emerged; the importance of the placenta, the presence of critical periods of vulnerability, the involvement of the kidney in programmed hypertension, the presence of sex differences in the progression and development of adult diseases. Despite compelling findings in recent studies, much remains unclear regarding the impact of biological sex in the progression of human diseases, in general, and in the mechanisms underlying developmentally programmed responses, in particular. Although the contribution of biological sex to DOHAD is increasingly recognized, it also appears that it may exert distinctly different influences during fetal and adult life. The mechanisms by which biological sex contributes to these processes remains nebulous at present; nevertheless, several intriguing mechanistic candidates have been proposed ranging from differences in the amounts of sex hormones (e.g., estrogens, androgens) to recently described sexual dimorphism in the transcriptome of a variety of mammalian tissues. Recognizing the influences of biological sex or sex hormones on DOHAD uniquely situates research in this area to provide significant insights into the development and progression of many diseases, recent examples of which are the subject of this review.

placenta; estrogen; maternal nutrient restriction; hypertension

This article has been cited by other articles:

				E. W. Tobi, L.H. Lumey, R. P. Talens, D. Kremer, H. Putter, A. D. Stein, P. E. Slagboom, and B. T. Heijmans DNA methylation differences after exposure to prenatal famine are common and timing- and sex-specific Hum. Mol. Genet., November 1, 2009; 18(21): 4046 - 4053. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]