PhD defence M.N. (Meddy) Bongers-Karmaoui

Brief summary:

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death globally and, at least partly, find their origins in early life. This thesis investigates how prenatal and childhood factors influence long-term cardiovascular health.
The placenta plays a key role in fetal development, and its dysfunction may directly impact fetal cardiovascular health. Understanding these influences could improve long-term health outcomes. In the first part of this thesis we explored if the proteins PlGf and Sflt-1 effects offspring cardiovascular health. We found that, in low-risk pregnancies, these maternal blood vessel growth factors had no impact on children’s cardiovascular health. 

In the second part we developed a new Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (CMR) exercise test to measure cardiovascular stress responses in children. This test, based on an isometric handgrip exercise, proved effective in eliciting measurable cardiovascular stress reactions. We also showed that children with a higher BMI had a reduced vascular response to exercise, indicating early adaptations of the cardiovascular system to higher bodyweight. This is the first time that a CMR stress test was used in children while heartrate and blood pressure were continuously measured. This offers great novel clinical opportunities to detect subtle differences in cardiovascular health in childhood.