Abstract: "Developmental origins of adult disease", based on the concept of ＂fetal origins of adult disease", was used to demonstrate the effect of the fetus intrauterine environment and the developmental environment of newborn, childhood and adult on those adult diseases. The potential biological mechanism included the developmental plasticity, compensatory growth, genetic and epigenetics, hormonal adaptations, etc. Those non-infectious chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, PCOS, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, are attributed to the "developmental origins of adult disease". In this review, we discussed the hypothesis of "developmental origins of adult disease", the biological basis and potential mechanism, the disease types, and its research progress.

Key words: Development origin of adult disease, Infant, low birth weight, Cardiovascular diseases, Diabetes mellitus, type 2, Polycystic ovary syndrome, Inflammation