Mechanisms of Programming: Pancreatic Islets and Fetal Programming

The study of how insults, e.g., nutritional insults, during sensitive periods of life affect health conditions later in life has become increasingly important since these insults lead to metabolic dysfunctions that are triggers for the development of obesity, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes (T2D), among other disorders. For this reason the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) concept was proposed and has been widely discussed over the world.