Sex differences in effects of maternal risk and protective factors in childhood and pregnancy on newborn telomere length

According to the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease theory, many human disease processes begin as early as the fetal period, even if symptoms do not emerge until late in life (Gluckman et al., 2008). Various maternal exposures have been identified as robust influencers on fetal development and, ultimately, offspring physical and mental health and neurodevelopment (Entringer et al., 2015; Van den Bergh et al., 2017). Importantly, evidence suggests that these exposures may not uniformly affect male and female offspring (Van den Bergh et al., 2017).

Source: Psychoneuroendocrinology - May 17, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Michelle Bosquet Enlow, Valentina Bollati, Georgios Sideridis, Julie D. Flom, Mirjam Hoxha, Michele Hacker, Rosalind J. Wright Source Type: research