User:Cag1143/Thrifty phenotype

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Offspring consequences
Maternal nutrition can affect the development of her unborn child in poor nutritional environments such that it will be prepared for survival within that poor environment. This results in a thrifty phenotype (Hales & Barker, 1992 ). It is sometimes called Barker's hypothesis, after Professor David J. P. Barker, researching at the University of Southampton who published the theory in 1990 when looking at fetal development and cardiovascular conditions.

Metabolic consequences

The thrifty phenotype hypothesis suggests that early life metabolic adaptations help in survival of the organism by selecting an appropriate trajectory of growth in response to environmental cues. An example of this is type 2 diabetes. In their review, Barker and Hayes discuss evidence that beta cells abnormally develop due to malnutrition during fetal development, causing insulin issues later in life. The review also notes that low birth weight alone does not necessarily mean that it is a manifestation of Thrifty Phenotype. Low birth weight is not exclusively caused by maternal malnutrition, meaning that other factors could influence the low birth weight- disease relationship.

Before the term “Thrifty Phenotype” was coined, Barker had noted the phenomenon with cardiovascular disease. In his lecture paper, he discusses the role of malnutrition during fetal development in Obstructed Lung Disease (now known as COPD), Ischemic heart disease, and blood pressure. In each of these diseases, there was an association with social class and development prevalence of the disease. This was determined to be due to issues of malnutrition during key points in organ development in utero.

Other consequences

Not all research into this topic has been conducted on diseases. Other research has explored the Thrifty Phenotype Hypothesis as a cause for differing development into puberty and adulthood. A review on the literature, up to 2013, discussed not only the hierarchical tissue preservation within pancreatic cells, but literature on limb shortening to preserve development of more vital organs and bones. An example of this phenomenon is a study published in 2018 by the Royal Society, which found that hypoxic stress from differing altitudes affected offspring limb length. Fetal overnutrition may also play a key role in development, increasing the likelihood of early puberty and obesity.