The “fetal” or “early” origins of adult disease hypothesis was originally put forward by David
Barker and colleagues and stated that environmental factors, particularly nutrition, act in …

Following the discovery of leptin in 1994, the scientific and clinical communities have held
great hope that manipulation of the leptin axis may lead to the successful treatment of …

Obesity and pregnancy are associated with a combination of insulin resistance and
inflammatory changes which exacerbate in combination. Based on the similarity between …

Objective: To review recent advances in understanding the role of leptin in the physiology
and pathophysiology of reproduction, with a focus on relevant clinical situations. Design: A …

Biobanks provide an important repository of samples for research purposes. However, for
those samples to reflect the in vivo state, and for experimental reliability and reproducibility …

The developing fetus requires substantial amounts of fatty acids to support rapid cellular
growth and activity. Although the fatty acid composition delivered to the fetus is largely …

The placenta is an endocrine fetal organ, which secretes a plethora of steroid-and proteo-
hormones, metabolic proteins, growth factors, and cytokines in order to adapt maternal …

Deposition of fat in the fetus increases exponentially with gestational age, reaching its
maximal rate—around 7 g/day or 90% of energy deposition—at term. In late pregnancy …

Leptin, which was identified originally as an adipocyte-derived protein, was regarded for
years as an exclusive regulator of satiety and energy homeostasis. A role for leptin in …

More than 90 per cent of the fat deposition in the fetus occurs in the last 10 weeks of
pregnancy during which it increases exponentially to reach a rate of accretion of around …