title: Prenatal programming of adult mineral metabolism: relevance to blood pressure, dietary prevention strategies, and cardiovascular disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Mounting evidence indicates that adult health outcomes such as the development of cardiovascular disease or diabetes can trace some of their roots back to prenatal development. This study investigated the epigenetic impact of a particular prenatal hormonal condition on specific health-related consequences, i.e., on concentrations of minerals and mineral metabolism in adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  In 70 university students, the second-to-fourth digit length (2D:4D) was measured as a proxy of prenatal sex steroid action, and the concentrations of sodium (Na), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), and calcium (Ca) were determined in hair samples by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Mineral concentrations and the mineral ratios Na/K, Na/Mg, and Na/Ca were analyzed in multivariate analyses of variance, with digit ratios and sex of participants as grouping variables. The results were validated in a replication cohort from the general population, and with a wider age-range. In addition, the correlation of mineral concentrations and mineral ratios with blood pressure was examined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Men with relatively lower (i.e., more masculine) and women with relatively higher (i.e., more feminine) digit ratios had higher Na/K, Na/Mg, and Na/Ca ratios than their counterparts. Virtually identical results were obtained in the replication study. Moreover, Na concentrations and Na/K ratios were significantly correlated with systolic blood pressure.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings suggest that the individual variation in mineral metabolism can be predicted by 2D:4D, indicating that prenatal sex steroid action may be involved in the epigenetic programming of specific metabolic conditions which are highly relevant to adult health and disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Karl-Franzens-University, Biological Psychology Unit, A-8010 Graz, Austria. guenter.schulter@uni-graz.at
authors.forename: Günter
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schulter
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Goessler
authors.forename: Ilona
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Papousek
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001317:Austria; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004032:Diet; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D005260:Female; D005333:Fetus / Q000502:physiology; D005385:Fingers / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000254:growth & development; D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones / Q000378:metabolism*; D006197:Hair / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D008903:Minerals / Q000378:metabolism*; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones; D008903:Minerals