Pre-eclampsia is a condition that occurs during pregnancy which causes high blood pressure and can affect the kidneys, liver, brain and placenta. It can cause problems with the placenta by reducing the amount of oxygen the foetus receives.
This in turn can retard growth and damage the baby's cardiovascular, metabolic and endocrine systems. Such babies are more likely to suffer heart disease in later life, researchers report.
The findings are to be presented at a Society for Endocrinology meeting in Harrogate on Wednesday. The study discovered that a lack of oxygen can change how a foetus's internal systems develop.
Dr. Dino Giussani, of Cambridge University is quoted by BBC news as saying, "Our research shows that changes to the amount of oxygen available in the womb can have a profound influence on the development of the foetus in both the short and long term, and trigger an early origin of heart disease.
"We can see in scans of the unborn child that the walls of the heart ventricles are thicker, the aorta is thicker and the heart is bigger. There's certainly evidence that low oxygen reveals all the hallmarks of cardiovascular disease prior to birth."
The growing foetus that suffers from lack of oxygen has adverse effects on the developing heart and circulation due to oxidative stress. The study also suggests that the damage can be prevented by giving antioxidants to expectant mothers who are at risk of low oxygen.
