Prenatal glucocorticoids and long-term programming

Epidemiological evidence suggests that low birth weight is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular, metabolic and neuroendocrine disorders in adult life. Glucocorticoid administration during pregnancy reduces offspring birth weight and alters the maturation of the lung and other organs. We hypothesised that prenatal exposure to excess glucocorticoids or stress might represent a mechanism linking foetal growth with adult pathophysiology. In rats, birth weight is reduced following prenatal exposure to the synthetic steroid dexamethasone, which readily crosses the placenta, or to carbenoxolone, which inhibits 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 (11beta-HSD2), the physiological feto-placental…

• WT
  Wellcome Trust
• BH
  British Heart Foundation
• EC
  European Commission