PHYS30001 Lecture Notes - Lecture 30: Thrifty Phenotype, Rodent, Leptin
Document Summary
Villous network: capillaries in maternal blood space to absorb nutrients = labyrinth zone in rodent. Human doesn"t have junctional/labyrinth zone (hormone production/nutrient exchange is integrated in one zone) Maternal perturbations which regulate placental development and program offspring disease. In a cohort of 2414 babies born to women exposed to famine. Placental size more affected in boys than girls. For any given fetal body weight, there is an optimal placental weight (20% of fetal weight) Too large - inefficient placenta, taken too much priority of nutrients to grow itself rather than deliver to fetus. Human epidemiology linking placental development and offspring disease. Offspring hypertension observed when placenta was too large for given body weight. Later studies demonstrated disease when placentas were either too large or small for body weight. U-shaped curve indicates a placental ratio that is too small or large is associated with hypertension. Other placental phenotypes and incidence of adult disease.
