title: Factors in Early-Life Programming of Reproductive Fitness.
abstract: Fertility rates have been declining worldwide, with a growing number of young women suffering from infertility. Infectious and inflammatory diseases are important causes of infertility, and recent evidence points to the critical role of the early-life microbial environment in developmental programming of adult reproductive fitness. Our laboratory and others have demonstrated that acute exposure to an immunological challenge early in life has a profound and prolonged impact on male and female reproductive development. This review presents evidence that perinatal exposure to immunological challenge by a bacterial endotoxin, lipopolysaccharide, acts at all levels of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis, resulting in long-lasting changes in reproductive function, suggesting that disposition to infertility may begin early in life.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Neuroimmunology, School of Psychology, Faculty of Science and IT, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, N.S.W., Australia.
authors.forename: Luba
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sominsky
authors.forename: Erin A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Fuller
authors.forename: Deborah M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Hodgson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007030:Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology; D007246:Infertility / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D007249:Inflammation / Q000150:complications* / Q000382:microbiology; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D008297:Male; D010913:Pituitary-Adrenal System / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D012098:Reproduction
chemical_list: D008070:Lipopolysaccharides