Effects of prenatal stress on development and health of offspring and its potential mechanisms

Inappropriate diet and stress in maternal pregnancy may affect the development of the offspring. Brain dysfunction and some chronic diseases such as obesity and diabetes in offspring are associated with the factors during maternal pregnancy. Many researches focused on how prenatal stress affected cognitive function and behavior of the offspring and how nutritional modulation might prevent the pathogenesis of such diseases. Here we summarize the effects of prenatal stress on the offspring and the potential mechanism,like hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis( HPA),oxidative stress,apoptosis and inflammation,and the prevention of nutrient to offspring dysfunction by prenatal stress,based on our previous work and some existing references.