Childhood Nutrition Research Centre, UCL Institute of Child Health, 30 Guilford Street, London, WC 1N 1EH, UK
Childhood Nutrition Research Centre, UCL Institute of Child Health, 30 Guilford Street, London, WC 1N 1EH, UK.
Evol Med Public Health. 2016 Apr 9;2016(1):133-45. doi: 10.1093/emph/eow011. Print 2016.
Patterns of development predict cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, and ethnic differences therein, but it remains unclear why apparently 'adaptive plasticity' in early life should generate health costs in later life. We hypothesized that offspring receiving low maternal investment during fetal life, the primary period of organogenesis, should predict a shorter reproductive career and develop a fast life-history strategy, prioritizing reproduction over growth and homeostatic maintenance.
We studied 58 young adult South Asian women living in the UK, a group with high susceptibility to CVD. We obtained gestational age, birth weight (BW) and menarcheal age by recall and measured anthropometry, body composition, resting metabolic rate (RMR) and blood pressure (BP).
BW and gestational age were inversely associated with menarcheal age, indicating that lower maternal investment is associated with faster maturation. Menarcheal age was positively associated with height but inversely with adiposity, indicating that rapid maturation prioritizes lipid stores over somatic growth. BW was inversely associated with BP, whereas adiposity was positively associated, indicating that lower maternal investment reduces BP homeostasis. BW was positively associated with RMR, whereas menarche was inversely associated, indicating that maternal investment influences adult metabolism.
Supporting our hypothesis, low maternal investment promoted faster life histories, demonstrated by earlier menarche, reduced growth and elevated adiposity. These traits were associated with poorer BP regulation. This is the first study demonstrating strategic adjustment of the balance between reproduction and metabolic health in response to the level of maternal investment during fetal life.
发育模式可预测心血管疾病（CVD）风险及其在不同种族间的差异，但目前尚不清楚为什么生命早期的这种看似“适应性可塑性”会在以后的生活中产生健康成本。我们假设，在胎儿期（器官发生的主要阶段）接受低母体投资的后代，应该预示着生殖期较短，并形成快速的生活史策略，将繁殖置于生长和体内平衡维持之上。
我们研究了居住在英国的 58 名南亚年轻成年女性，她们是 CVD 的高发人群。我们通过回忆获得了胎龄、出生体重（BW）和初潮年龄，并测量了人体测量学、身体成分、静息代谢率（RMR）和血压（BP）。
BW 和胎龄与初潮年龄呈负相关，表明较低的母体投资与更快的成熟有关。初潮年龄与身高呈正相关，但与肥胖呈负相关，表明快速成熟优先考虑脂质储备而不是身体生长。BW 与 BP 呈负相关，而肥胖呈正相关，表明较低的母体投资会降低 BP 体内平衡。BW 与 RMR 呈正相关，而初潮呈负相关，表明母体投资影响成人代谢。
支持我们的假设，低母体投资促进了更快的生活史，表现为初潮提前、生长减少和肥胖增加。这些特征与较差的 BP 调节有关。这是第一项证明在胎儿期母体投资水平的影响下，生殖和代谢健康之间的平衡会进行策略性调整的研究。
