Endocrine Abstracts

It is over twenty years since epidemiological studies revealed that there was a relationship between patterns of early growth and risk of conditions such as type 2 diabetes in later life. Studies of identical twins, individuals who were in utero during periods of famine and animal models have provided strong evidence that the early environment, including early nutrition, plays an important role in mediating these relationships. The concept of “early life programming”...

The incidence of obesity is increasing at an alarming rate and this worldwide epidemic represents an ominous predictor of increases in diseases such as type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Epidemiological and animals studies suggest that alteration of the metabolic and hormonal environment during critical periods of development is associated with increased risks for obesity, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes in later life. There is general recognition that the developing br...

Prenatal exposure to excess glucocorticoids may be causal in programming mood disorders in later life. In support of this hypothesis, maternal stress, treatment during pregnancy with dexamethasone (which crosses the placenta) or inhibitors of feto-placental 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 (11β-HSD2), the physiological ‘barrier’ to maternal glucocorticoids, reduces birth weight and programmes offspring cardio-metabolic and affective behaviours. The e...

Obesity and type II diabetes associated with obesity have reached epidemic proportions in both developed and underdeveloped countries. Epidemiological evidence has demonstrated that children born to obese women have a greater risk of developing obesity, insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome than those born to lean women. Leptin, an adipose tissue hormone, inhibits the brain’s central drive to eat, enabling maintenance of normal body weight and composition. In the rode...