Open Journal of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, 2017, 7, 59-76 http://www.scirp.org/journal/ojemd ISSN Online: 2165-7432 ISSN Print: 2165-7424 DOI: 10.4236/ojemd.2017.71007 January 13, 2017 Endocrine Disruptors and Fetal Programming Tatiane Andreazza Lucchese 1 , Naiana Grunow 1 , Ian Werner 2 , Ana Luísa de Jesus 1 , Alberto Krayyem Arbex 1,3 1 Division of Endocrinology, IPEMED Medical School (IPEMED), São Paulo, Brazil 2 Chemistry School, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 3 Diabetology Department, Malteser Krankenhaus St. Franziskus-Hospital, Flensburg, Germany Abstract The concept “fetal programming” shows who still in the intrauterine life, can interfere in factors related to the genesis and development of diseases in childhood, adolescence and adult life. The literature shows that children born to mothers with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) are at increased risk for the development of obesity in adulthood, it becomes fundamental to study more about the subject. Obesity is a disease of multifactorial etiology, result- ing from complex interactions between genetic and environmental factors. However, the marked increase in its incidence, precocity and severity are not yet fully understood. Several findings suggest that stressor stimuli (e.g. di- abetes, nutritional changes) during intrauterine development may promote epigenetic changes, as well as affect mitochondrial metabolism, which may modulate fetal development and predispose to the late development of diseas- es. Despite the considerable amount of evidence accumulated about intraute- rine programming for diseases of adult life, the determinant mechanisms of such programming are not yet clear. Keywords Fetal Programming, Obesity, Diabetes Mellitus 1. Introduction An epidemic of diabetes mellitus (DM) is ongoing. Currently, the world popula- tion with DM is estimated to be in the region of 387 million and reaches 471 million in 2035. About 80% of these individuals live in developing countries, where the epidemic is most intense and there is an increasing proportion of people affected in younger age groups, which coexist with the problem that in- fectious diseases still represent [1]. The number of diabetics is increasing due to population growth and aging, How to cite this paper: Lucchese, T.A., Grunow, N., Werner, I., de Jesus, A.L. and Arbex, A.K. (2017) Endocrine Disruptors and Fetal Programming. Open Journal of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, 7, 59- 76. http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ojemd.2017.71007 Received: November 21, 2016 Accepted: January 10, 2017 Published: January 13, 2017 Copyright © 2017 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Open Access