Meyer Kurt
Center for Perinatal Biology, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Loma Linda University, School of Medicine, Loma Linda, California 92350, USA.
Reprod Sci. 2007 Apr;14(3):209-16. doi: 10.1177/1933719107302324.
Fetal programming describes long-term adaptive changes that an organism undergoes in response to an intrauterine insult. This term was coined to describe the increased incidence of adult disease, such as cardiovascular disease, seen among populations that suffered an intrauterine insult. While changes induced by such an insult may be initially beneficial, they can have deleterious long-term effects. Cardiac programming effects can be induced by maternal diet alterations, fetal exposure to increased levels of corticosteroids, chronic fetal hypoxia and anemia, and maternal use of nicotine or cocaine. These stimuli result in a variety of changes in cardiac function and gene expression, many of which persist into adulthood. A possible mediator of these changes is an alteration in the DNA methylation pattern of the cardiomyocytes. This review gives an overview of the changes that have been observed in the heart in response to various programming stimuli and potential programming mechanisms.
胎儿编程描述了生物体因子宫内损伤而经历的长期适应性变化。这个术语是为了描述在遭受子宫内损伤的人群中成年疾病（如心血管疾病）发病率增加的情况而创造的。虽然这种损伤引起的变化最初可能是有益的，但它们可能会产生有害的长期影响。心脏编程效应可由母亲饮食改变、胎儿暴露于高水平的皮质类固醇、慢性胎儿缺氧和贫血以及母亲使用尼古丁或可卡因引起。这些刺激会导致心脏功能和基因表达发生多种变化，其中许多变化会持续到成年期。这些变化的一个可能介导因素是心肌细胞DNA甲基化模式的改变。本综述概述了心脏对各种编程刺激和潜在编程机制所观察到的变化。
