Dear Colleagues,

IJERPH is planning a Special Issue on “DOHaD: From Conception to Adults”. The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) concept addresses the role of prenatal/perinatal exposure to environmental factors in determining the development of human diseases in adulthood. More specifically, the theory suggests that physical and structural changes developing in the fetal stage to deal with environmental stress may lead to potential disease risk. The DOHaD theory has now been confirmed through various epidemiological and animal studies. Indeed, early studies focusing on the effect of early undernutrition showed that it impaired fetal growth and increased the incidence of type-2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, obesity, hypertension, osteoporosis, and metabolic syndrome in later life. Other environmental factors, including maternal stress, infections, hypertension, obesity, malnutrition, alcohol, drugs, cigarette smoke, etc., within indicated critical windows of growth and development have also been associated with an increased risk of adult disease.

Plenty of evidence supports the DOHaD hypothesis that programming of the fetal phenotype without altering the genotype per se, i.e., epigenetic modification, is responsible for DOHaD. How and when different tissue and organ systems are influenced by environmental factors, however, remains a major research topic. New studies that provide intriguing insights into potential mechanisms behind DOHaD are also currently in progress.

Fetuses are susceptible to drugs and toxins, and mother–fetal stress is another topic of particular concern; therefore, a safe and effective re-programming strategy that can be delivered during the preconception period or throughout pregnancy would be extremely beneficial, as would more precise re-programming strategies. As such, nutritional programming has become a hot research topic.

The main aim of this Special Issue on “DOHaD: From Conception to Adults” is to gather valuable studies on a broad range of topics, including maternal dietary intake, neonatal and early-life nutrition, placenta pathology, and future child and adult health. Original studies, meta-analyses, and review articles will be considered. This issue seeks to provide a comprehensive understanding of recent advances in DOHaD that can impact/promote maternal–fetal as well as, at a later stage, offspring health.

Prof. Dr. Li-Tung Huang
Prof. Dr. Hong-Ren Yu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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• Maternal exposome (nutrition, environmental pollution)
• Epigenomic related to DOHaD
• Nutritional/medication programming
• Maternal obesity
• Placenta
• Fetus
• Microbiome related to DOHaD