A review of: Crossey PA, Pillai CC, Miell JP 2002 Altered placental development and intrauterine growth restriction in IGF binding protein-1 transgenic mice. J Clin Invest 110:411–418

Recent UNICEF statistics indicate that 14% of newborns worldwide weigh less than 2.5 kilograms at birth, and it is thought that this may well be an underestimate due to the lack of birth weight data in developing countries. Of this group of small for gestational age infants, 70–80% display an asymmetrical fetal growth restriction (FGR), generally a result of placental insufficiency. Interest in the development of these FGR fetuses has been enhanced by retrospective human clinical studies that suggest consequences into adult life, including a higher incidence of hypertension and diabetes, presumably as a result of impaired oxygen and nutrient transport in utero(1). The insulin-like growth factors, IGF-I and IGF-II, and the interactions with their binding proteins (IGFBPs) play important roles in regulating placental and fetal development (2). Recently, the role of IGFBP-1 in the development of the placenta and its pathological role in preeclampsia has been examined in a mouse model of decidual IGFBP-1 overexpression (3).

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