title: Vitamin D deficiency in early life and the potential programming of cardiovascular disease in adulthood.
abstract: Vitamin D deficiency is a major worldwide public health problem affecting people of all ages, from infants to the elderly. Of particular concern is the high incidence of vitamin D deficiency in women during pregnancy and lactation, leading to the exposure of the growing fetus/infant to inadequate levels of vitamin D, which is essential for normal development. Vitamin D deficiency in adulthood is linked to the etiology of hypertension and to a multitude of adverse cardiovascular outcomes. It is now well-established that the antecedents of cardiovascular disease can originate very early in life. The purpose of this review is to highlight how maternal vitamin D deficiency, and its effects in upregulating the fetal renin-angiotensin system and altering cardiomyocyte growth in the fetal heart, has the potential to program long-term vulnerability to cardiovascular disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, 3800, Australia.
authors.forename: Oksan
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Gezmish
authors.forename: Mary Jane
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Black
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000209:etiology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D005318:Fetal Heart / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007774:Lactation; D032383:Myocytes, Cardiac / Q000378:metabolism*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D039401:Prenatal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D012084:Renin-Angiotensin System; D012307:Risk Factors; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000378:metabolism*; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000150:complications* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D014807:Vitamin D