Developmental Origins of Health Span and Life Span: A Mini-Review

Abstract

Background: A vast body of research has demonstrated that disease susceptibility and offspring health can be influenced by perinatal factors, which include both paternal and maternal behavior and environment. Offspring disease risk has the potential to affect the health span and life span of offspring. Key Findings: Various maternal factors, such as environmental toxicant exposure, diet, stress, exercise, age at conception, and longevity have the potential to influence age-associated diseases such as cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, and cancer risk in offspring. Paternal factors such as diet, age at conception, and longevity can potentially impact offspring health span and life span-reducing traits as well. Practical Implications: Continued research could go a long way toward defining mechanisms of the developmental origins of life span and health span, and eventually establishing regimens to avoid negative developmental influences and to encourage positive interventions to potentially increase life span and improve health span in offspring.

Effect of maternal baboon (Papio sp.) dietary mismatch in pregnancy and lactation on post‐natal offspring early life phenotype

“…The baboon model of mismatch between pre‐ and post‐natal nutrition sheds light on a cause of human age‐related disease pre‐disposition. The influence of programing on health span and life span have been well covered in a comprehensive review by Preston et al.…”

“…When a fetus is exposed to low nutrition, the organism undergoes adaptive changes such as enhancing gluconeogenesis and developing methods to conserve glucose and amino acids that increase its survival chances in utero in the face of a reduced nutrient supply. These changes give rise to a so‐called “thrifty phenotype.” If food becomes plentiful after birth, these programed alterations in metabolism can pre‐dispose individuals to obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease …”

“…If food becomes plentiful after birth, these programed alterations in metabolism can pre-dispose individuals to obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. [5][6][7][8] We have developed a baboon model of pre-and post-natal nutritional mismatch. Mothers in the mismatch group received 30% less global food than control mothers during pregnancy.…”

Dietary Lipids Modulate Notch Signaling and Influence Adult Intestinal Development and Metabolism in Drosophila

“…Major advances have occurred in recent years in understanding the genes and pathways that program embryo and tissue development, many of which are highly conserved among diverse invertebrate and vertebrate animals. In addition, numerous examples have been documented where environmental variables, nutrition in particular, exert or are believed to exert strong modulating effects on developmental outcomes and disease susceptibility (reviewed in Preston et al, 2018). Examples, include folate and neural tube closure (Imbard et al, 2013), cholesterol and heart disease (Orho-Melander, 2015), and caloric intake and longevity (Templeman and Murphy, 2018).…”

Dietary lipids modulate Notch signaling and influence adult intestinal development and metabolism inDrosophila

“…Major advances have occurred in recent years in understanding the genes and pathways that program embryo and tissue development, many of which are highly conserved among diverse invertebrate and vertebrate animals. In addition, numerous examples have been documented where environmental variables, nutrition in particular, exert or are believed to exert strong modulating effects on developmental outcomes and disease susceptibility (reviewed in Preston et al 2018). Examples, include folate and neural tube closure (Imbard et al 2013), cholesterol and heart disease (Orho-Melander, 2015), and caloric intake and longevity (Templeman and Murphy, 2017).…”