Impact of Oxidative Stress in Fetal Programming.pdfVIP

Hindawi Publishing Corporation Journal of Pregnancy Volume 2012, Article ID 582748, 8 pages doi:10.1155/2012/582748 Review Article Impact of Oxidative Stress in Fetal Programming Loren P. Thompson and Yazan Al-Hasan Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 11-029 Bressler Research Building, 655 W. Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA Correspondence should be addressed to Loren P. Thompson, lthompson1@ Received 5 April 2012; Revised 7 June 2012; Accepted 21 June 2012 Academic Editor: Janna Morrison Copyright © 2012 L. P. Thompson and Y. Al-Hasan. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Intrauterine stress induces increased risk of adult disease through fetal programming mechanisms. Oxidative stress can be generated by several conditions, such as, prenatal hypoxia, maternal under- and overnutrition, and excessive glucocorticoid exposure. The role of oxidant molecules as signaling factors in fetal programming via epigenetic mechanisms is discussed. By linking oxidative stress with dysregulation of specific target genes, we may be able to develop therapeutic strategies that protect against organ dysfunction in the programmed offspring. 1. Introduction increased risk of metabolic disorders as adults [ 14, 15]. Extensive study has lead to identifying additional factors This paper addresses the emerging role of oxidant molecules that include alt