Numerous epidemiological studies report that birth weight is inversely associated with blood pressure, suggesting that slow growth during fetal life programs hypertension and increased risk for cardiovascular disease in later life. Different experimental models are used to provide proof of concept for the theory of developmental programming of cardiovascular disease, and studies in these different animal models are providing insight into the etiology of chronic disease programmed by an imbalance in nutrition during early life or exposure to maternal complications during pregnancy. Alterations...