%0 Journal Article
%T Early Life Factors and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
%A Xinli Jiang
%A Huijie Ma
%A Yan Wang
%A Yan Liu
%J Journal of Diabetes Research
%D 2013
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2013/485082
%X Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a multifactorial disease, and its aetiology involves a complex interplay between genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors. In recent years, evidences from both human and animal experiments have correlated early life factors with programming diabetes risk in adult life. Fetal and neonatal period is crucial for organ development. Many maternal factors during pregnancy may increase the risk of diabetes of offsprings in later life, which include malnutrition, healthy (hyperglycemia and obesity), behavior (smoking, drinking, and junk food diet), hormone administration, and even stress. In neonates, catch-up growth, lactation, glucocorticoids administration, and stress have all been found to increase the risk of insulin resistance or T2DM. Unfavorable environments (socioeconomic situation and famine) or obesity also has long-term negative effects on children by causing increased susceptibility to T2DM in adults. We also address the potential mechanisms that may underlie the developmental programming of T2DM. Therefore, it might be possible to prevent or delay the risk for T2DM by improving pre- and/or postnatal factors. 1. Introduction Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) is a metabolic disease caused by genetic and multiple environmental factors. Epidemical and experimental studies have found that detrimental early life factors may predispose high incidence of cardiovascular disease and metabolic diseases in later life, which is also termed as ˇ°barker hypothesis.ˇ± Organs are under development and functional maturation from fetal stage to childhood; disturbance of the homeostasis during crucial periods might predispose increased risk of insulin resistance and even T2DM in late life. 2. Part I: Prenatal Factors (Figure 1) 2.1. Diet and Nutrition It has been suggested that the quality and quantity of the nutrition during pregnancy may cause strong and permanent effects on the fetus. The altered structure of chromosome during this procedure might be the cause of cell dysfunction and increased susceptibility to diseases through altered gene expression [1]. Figure 1: Prenatal factors mentioned in recent years that might correlate with insulin resistance and/or T2DM. Data from human and animal studies have shown that malnutrition or overnutrition, metabolic disorders, exposure to hypoxia, some chemicals and hormones, and unhealthy lifestyle such as smoking and alcohol drinking during pregnancy might predispose detrimental long-term effects on offspring, leading to increased risk of insulin resistance or T2DM. TFA: transfatty acids; BPA:
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jdr/2013/485082/