PRENATAL PROGRAMMING OF MAMMALIAN GROWTH - A REVIEW OF THE ROLE OF STEROIDS

The steroid milieu of differentiating mammals influences aspects of gr owth and development. Changes to the steroid milieu of a differentiati ng mammal results in physiological changes to that animal. These chang es can be permanent and identified as phenomena measured in later life . During prenatal development, steroids programme the timing of critic al events such as birth, puberty and death. They also influence body s hape and composition, growth rates, physiology, placental morphology, behaviour and sexual differentiation. Prenatal steroids programme live stock and their manipulation can result in enhanced growth characters in domestic livestock. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reser ved.