Fetal programming and its effects on vascularpulmonary circulation

Into the scientific community, consensus about the emerging concept of “the fetal origin of adult diseases” is growing.It sustains that the parental (of the two parents) adversities, and the related external influences, during the intra-utero/perinatal life of each eutherian mammal organism, human included, can permanently set the structure and functionalityof specific body systems (i.e., immune, endocrine, nervous and cardiovascular systems), predisposing them to earlyageing and disease during adulthood. The pulmonary circulation system also appears to be one of its targets. Establishedevidence supports the strong association between developmental programming and pulmonary arterial remodeling anddysfunction. Here, a revised overview of this topic is reported, by stressing the efforts and advances in identifying themolecular and cellular mechanisms and pathways involved