Human fetal adipokine levels in correlation to birth weight and maternal body mass index

Aims: Recent studies suggest that the perinatal period is a sensitive part in human development in respect to the pathogenesis of chronic diseases in adulthood. For example, newborns, that are small for gestational age, have a greater risk to develop Diabetes mellitus in later live. The terms „perinatal priming“ or „fetal programming“ are used to describe this phenomenon. Beside that it is known from epidemiological studies that offspring of obese patients have an increased risk to develop obesity by themselves. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate, if fetal adipokine levels show a correlat…