{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,11,3]],"date-time":"2026-11-03T15:34:13Z","timestamp":1793720053159,"version":"4.6.1"},"reference-count":87,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,1,1]],"date-time":"2024-01-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1704067200000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Journal of Public Health Research"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2024,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>The theory of fetal programming of adult diseases was first proposed by David J.P. Barker in the eighties of the previous century, to explain the higher susceptibility of some people toward the development of ischemic heart disease. According to his hypothesis, poor maternal living conditions during gestation represent an important risk factor for the onset of atherosclerotic heart disease later in life. The analysis of the early phases of fetal development is a fundamental tool for the risk stratification of children and adults, allowing the identification of susceptible or resistant subjects to multiple diseases later in life. Here, we provide a narrative summary of the most relevant evidence supporting the Barker hypothesis in multiple fields of medicine, including neuropsychiatric disorders, such as Parkinson disease and Alzheimer disease, kidney failure, atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer onset and progression, metabolic syndrome, and infectious diseases including COVID-19. Given the consensus on the role of body weight at birth as a practical indicator of the fetal nutritional status during gestation, every subject with a low birth weight should be considered an \u201cat risk\u201d subject for the development of multiple diseases later in life. The hypothesis of the \u201cphysiological regenerative medicine,\u201d able to improve fetal organs\u2019 development in the perinatal period is discussed, in the light of recent experimental data indicating Thymosin Beta-4 as a powerful growth promoter when administered to pregnant mothers before birth.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/22799036241226817","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,1]],"date-time":"2024-03-01T05:03:54Z","timestamp":1709269434000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":36,"title":["The fascinating theory of fetal programming of adult diseases: A review of the fundamentals of the Barker hypothesis"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Gavino","family":"Faa","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Sciences and Public Health, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Biology, College of Science and Technology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Vassilios","family":"Fanos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Neonatology and NICU Center, Department of Surgical Sciences, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4175-6413","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mirko","family":"Manchia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Psychiatry, Department of Medical Sciences and Public Health, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Pharmacology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Peter","family":"Van Eyken","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pathology, UZ Genk Regional Hospital, Genk, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jasjit S.","family":"Suri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Stroke Diagnostic and Monitoring Division, Atheropoint, Roseville, CA, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Luca","family":"Saba","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Radiology, Department of Medical Sciences and Public Health, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"bibr1-22799036241226817","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(86)91340-1"},{"key":"bibr2-22799036241226817","first-page":"661","volume":"93","author":"Forsdhal A.","year":"1973","journal-title":"Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen"},{"key":"bibr3-22799036241226817","first-page":"91","volume":"31","author":"Forsdhal A.","year":"1977","journal-title":"Br J Prev Social Med"},{"key":"bibr4-22799036241226817","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"34","DOI":"10.1136\/jech.32.1.34","volume":"32","author":"Forsdhal A.","year":"1978","journal-title":"J Epidemiol Community Health"},{"key":"bibr5-22799036241226817","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/0140-6736(93)91224-A"},{"key":"bibr6-22799036241226817","volume-title":"Mothers, babies and disease in later life","author":"Barker DJP.","year":"1994"},{"key":"bibr7-22799036241226817","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.311.6998.171"},{"key":"bibr8-22799036241226817","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.310.6977.411"},{"key":"bibr9-22799036241226817","first-page":"5876","volume":"25","author":"Gerosa C","year":"2021","journal-title":"Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci"},{"key":"bibr10-22799036241226817","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3390\/jpm11020070"},{"key":"bibr11-22799036241226817","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.5468\/ogs.21154"},{"key":"bibr12-22799036241226817","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/fanim.2022.778440"},{"key":"bibr13-22799036241226817","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.atherosclerosis.2017.09.003"},{"key":"bibr14-22799036241226817","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev.es.20.110189.001341"},{"key":"bibr15-22799036241226817","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1159\/000167008"},{"key":"bibr16-22799036241226817","first-page":"199","volume":"120","author":"Dover GJ.","year":"2009","journal-title":"Trans Am Clin Climatol Assoc"},{"key":"bibr17-22799036241226817","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/1758-5996-5-49"},{"key":"bibr18-22799036241226817","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1365-2796.2007.01809.x"},{"key":"bibr19-22799036241226817","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/jech.40.1.37"},{"key":"bibr20-22799036241226817","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/hrt.45.1.13"},{"key":"bibr21-22799036241226817","first-page":"73","volume":"2","author":"Woolf B. 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