文摘
Cardiovascular disease continues to impose a high societal and economic burden. Although it occurs primarily in later life, there is strong evidence that it originates in early life. The nutritional environment that an unborn child is exposed to can heavily influence later disease risk, with nutritional exposures altering organ development and programming metabolic changes that are then maintained during the life course. Epigenetic changes induced by the early life environment are thought to be a key mechanism by which these early life events influence subsequent disease risk. Here, we review the emerging role of epigenetics in the development of cardiovascular disease.