Discovery Spotlight: Kent Thornburg and David Barker

Posted Apr 11, 2009

OHSU researchers shows link between fetal environment and adult disease

It’s been shown that women who develop preeclampsia are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease later in life, and that their babies have higher blood pressure during childhood. What hasn’t been known are the long-term health risks for these children. A recent study by Kent Thornburg, PhD, and David Barker, MD, PhD, found these children are at increased risk for stroke later in life.

Dr. Thornburg is a Professor of Medicine, Cardiovascular Medicine, and Director of the OHSU Heart Research Institute. Dr Barker is an Adjunct Professor of Medicine, Cardiovascular Medicine.

“The most important message from these studies is that adversities in pregnancy, like high blood pressure in the mother, can lead to compromises in the fetus whereby vascular structures are in adequately formed in the womb. In addition, the expression of genes that regulate the integrity of vascular structure and function in the brain may be permanently altered by epigenetic mechanisms,” said Dr. Thornburg.

The study is currently published online and will be in the April edition of Stroke. The research was funded by the British Heart Foundation, and several Finnish medical societies and foundations. To read more:click here.