Hormonal imprinting (HI) is a phenomenon which takes place at the first encounter between a

hormone A hormone (from the Greek participle , "setting in motion") is a class of signaling molecules in multicellular organisms that are sent to distant organs by complex biological processes to regulate physiology and behavior. Hormones are require ...

and its developing

receptor Receptor may refer to: * Sensory receptor, in physiology, any structure which, on receiving environmental stimuli, produces an informative nerve impulse *Receptor (biochemistry), in biochemistry, a protein molecule that receives and responds to a ...

in the critical periods of life (in unicellulars during the whole life) and determines the later signal transduction capacity of the cell. The most important period in

mammals Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur o ...

is the

perinatal Prenatal development () includes the development of the embryo and of the fetus during a viviparous animal's gestation. Prenatal development starts with fertilization, in the germinal stage of embryonic development, and continues in fetal devel ...

one, however this system can be imprinted at

weaning Weaning is the process of gradually introducing an infant human or another mammal to what will be its adult diet while withdrawing the supply of its mother's milk. The process takes place only in mammals, as only mammals produce milk. The infan ...

, at

puberty Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction. It is initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads: the ovaries in a girl, the testes in a bo ...

and in case of continuously dividing cells during the whole life. Faulty imprinting is caused by drugs, environmental

pollutants A pollutant or novel entity is a substance or energy introduced into the environment that has undesired effects, or adversely affects the usefulness of a resource. These can be both naturally forming (i.e. minerals or extracted compounds like o ...

and other hormone-like molecules present in excess at the critical periods with lifelong receptorial, morphological, biochemical and behavioral consequences. HI is transmitted to the hundreds of progeny generations in unicellulars and (as proved) to a few generations also in mammals.

References

* * *{{cite journal , author=Csaba G , title=Hormonal imprinting: phylogeny, ontogeny, diseases and possible role in present-day human evolution , journal=Cell Biochemistry and Function , volume=26 , issue=1 , pages=1–10 , date=April 2008 , pmid=17437316 , doi=10.1002/cbf.1412, s2cid=40225744

External links

Phylogeny of hormone receptors
Cell biology Physiology Perception Signal transduction