Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29673874›Full record

ReviewLancet (London, England)2018

Origins of lifetime health around the time of conception: causes and consequences.

Tom P Fleming, Adam J Watkins, Miguel A Velazquez, John C Mathers, Andrew M Prentice, Judith Stephenson, Mary Barker, Richard Saffery, Chittaranjan S Yajnik, Judith J Eckert and 4 more

Open access · greenAbstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Lancet (London, England), 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 563 papers, 11 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
563citing papers in PubMed, 11 pooled it
175.9field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

563 citing papers in PubMed, 11 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 1,102 citations in OpenAlex.

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  8. Preconception indicators and associations with health outcomes reported in UK routine primary care data: a systematic review.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2025
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  19. Placental Pathophysiology and Developmental Programming of Adult Cardiometabolic Risk: A Narrative Review of Pregnancy Exposures.Pathophysiology : the official journal of the International Society for Pathophysiology · 2026
    Review
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503 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors at 10 institutions in 6 countries.

Tom P FlemingBiological Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
Adam J WatkinsSchool of Medicine, Division of Child Health, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
Miguel A VelazquezSchool of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle, UK.
John C MathersHuman Nutrition Research Centre, Institute of Cellular Medicine and Newcastle University Institute for Ageing, Newcastle University, Newcastle, UK.
Andrew M PrenticeMRC Unit, The Gambia and MRC International Nutrition Group, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
Judith StephensonUCL EGA Institute for Women's Health, Faculty of Population Health Sciences, University College London, London, UK.
Mary BarkerMRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK; NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre, University of Southampton & University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, Southampton, UK.
Richard SafferyCancer & Disease Epigenetics, Murdoch Children's Research Institute and Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Chittaranjan S YajnikKEM Hospital Research Centre, Pune, India.
Judith J EckertInstitute of Developmental Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
Mark A HansonInstitute of Developmental Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK; NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre, University of Southampton & University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, Southampton, UK.
Terrence ForresterUniversity of the West Indies Solutions for Developing Countries, The University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica.
Peter D GluckmanLiggins Institute, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand; Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, Singapore.
Keith M GodfreyMRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK; Institute of Developmental Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK; NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre, University of Southampton & University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, Southampton, UK. Electronic address: kmg@mrc.soton.ac.uk.
University of Southampton · GBNewcastle University · GBMRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit · GBMRC Unit the Gambia · GMMurdoch Children's Research Institute · AUNIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre · GBUniversity College London · GBUniversity of Auckland · NZUniversity of Nottingham · GBUniversity of the West Indies System · JM

Funding

British Heart Foundation PG/14/33/30827British Heart Foundation RG/15/17/31749Department of Health RP-PG-0216-20004Medical Research Council MC_EX_MR/M01424X/1Medical Research Council MC_U123292700Medical Research Council MC_U147574222Medical Research Council MC_U147574226Medical Research Council MC_UP_A620_1017Medical Research Council MC_UU_00026/3Medical Research Council MC_UU_12011/3Medical Research Council MC_UU_12011/4Medical Research Council MR/J000094/1Medical Research Council MR/L016354/1Medical Research Council MR/N011848/1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Parental environmental factors, including diet, body composition, metabolism, and stress, affect the health and chronic disease risk of people throughout their lives, as captured in the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease concept. Research across the epidemiological, clinical, and basic science fields has identified the period around conception as being crucial for the processes mediating parental influences on the health of the next generation. During this time, from the maturation of gametes through to early embryonic development, parental lifestyle can adversely influence long-term risks of offspring cardiovascular, metabolic, immune, and neurological morbidities, often termed developmental programming. We review periconceptional induction of disease risk from four broad exposures: maternal overnutrition and obesity; maternal undernutrition; related paternal factors; and the use of assisted reproductive treatment. Studies in both humans and animal models have demonstrated the underlying biological mechanisms, including epigenetic, cellular, physiological, and metabolic processes. We also present a meta-analysis of mouse paternal and maternal protein undernutrition that suggests distinct parental periconceptional contributions to postnatal outcomes. We propose that the evidence for periconceptional effects on lifetime health is now so compelling that it calls for new guidance on parental preparation for pregnancy, beginning before conception, to protect the health of offspring.

Indexed as

Epigenesis, GeneticPrenatal Exposure Delayed EffectsPrenatal Nutritional Physiological PhenomenaAnimalsDietEmbryonic DevelopmentFemaleFertilizationHumansMiceObesityPregnancy

Identifiers

PMID29673874
PMCPMC5975952
OpenAlexW2787931223

What OpenQuestion holds

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Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.