Heart Dieases predetermined by oxygen levels in the Womb

The amount of oxygen available to a baby in the womb can affect their susceptibility to developing cardiovascular disease later in life.

Research from scientists at the University of Cambridge indicates that your risk of developing cardiovascular disease can be predetermined before birth, not only by your genes, but also by their interaction with the quality of the environment you experience in the womb. Their research was presented this week at the annual Society for Endocrinology, British Endocrine Society meeting. The Cambridge researchers, led by Dr Dino Giussani, examined the role that oxygen availability in the womb plays in programming your susceptibility to different diseases. His group found that babies that don’t receive enough oxygen in the womb, e.g. due to pre-eclampsia (high-blood pressure during pregnancy) or placental insufficiency, are more likely to suffer from cardiovascular disease when they are adult. A reduction of oxygen levels in the womb can lead to reduced growth rates in the baby and to changes in the way that their cardiovascular, metabolic and endocrine systems develop. Combined, these alterations to the development of key systems in the body can leave the baby more prone to developing cardiovascular disease later in life. Dr Giussani’s research also indicates methods by which we can potentially combat this problem. The detrimental effects of low oxygen levels on the development of the fetus’ cardiovascular system appear to be due to the generation of oxidative stress. Treatment with antioxidants in animal pregnancies complicated by low oxygenation can reverse these effects on the developing cardiovascular system and this could form the basis for new therapeutic techniques to prevent the early origin of heart disease in complicated human pregnancy. Cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of death in the UK, accounting for 4 in every 10 deaths. Almost 2.6 million people are affected by heart and circulatory conditions in the UK, with someone having a heart attack every 2 seconds. Dr Giussani said: “We have known for a while that changes in maternal nutrition can affect fetal development and influence disease susceptibility later in life, but relatively little work has investigated how low oxygen levels in the womb may affect infant development. Our research shows that changes to the amount of oxygen available in the womb can have a profound influence on the development of the fetus in both the short and long term, and trigger an early origin of heart disease. “Interestingly, the adverse effects on the developing heart and circulation of poor fetal oxygenation are due to oxidative stress. This gives us the opportunity to combat prenatal origins of heart disease by fetal exposure to antioxidant therapy. This may halt the development of heart disease at its very origin, bringing preventative medicine back into the womb.”