The Placenta: A Multifaceted, Transient Organ
Open accessAbstract
The placenta is arguably the most important organ of the body, but paradoxically the most poorly understood. During its transient existence, it performs actions that are later taken on by diverse separate organs, including the lungs, liver, gut, kidneys and endocrine glands. Its principal function is to supply the fetus, and in particular, the fetal brain, with oxygen and nutrients. The placenta is structurally adapted to achieve this, possessing a large surface area for exchange and a thin interhaemal membrane separating the maternal and fetal circulations. In addition, it adopts other strategies that are key to facilitating transfer, including remodelling of the maternal uterine arteries that supply the placenta to ensure optimal perfusion. Furthermore, placental hormones have profound effects on maternal metabolism, initially building up her energy reserves and then releasing these to support fetal growth in later pregnancy and lactation post-natally. Bipedalism has posed unique haemodynamic challenges to the placental circulation, as pressure applied to the vena cava by the pregnant uterus may compromise venous return to the heart. These challenges, along with the immune interactions involved in maternal arterial remodelling, may explain complications of pregnancy that are almost unique to the human, including pre-eclampsia. Such complications may represent a trade-off against the provision for a large fetal brain.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In late pregnancy, placental hormones cause insulin resistance to increase maternal blood glucose and enhance glucose transfer to the fetus.
“In late pregnancy, however, the placental hormones modulate metabolism, causing a state of insulin resistance to increase glucose concentration in the mother’s blood circulation, thereby enhancing glucose transfer to the fetus”
From Maternal Overnutrition and Fetal Programming: Long-Term Metabolic, Cognitive, and Epigenetic Consequences (2026) · cites this paper as [21]
In early pregnancy, placental hormones increase food intake and promote energy storage, whereas in late pregnancy these reserves are mobilized to support the developing fetus.
“In the early stages of pregnancy, the hormones produced by the placenta increase food intake and promote energy storage, whereas in late pregnancy these reserves are mobilized to support the developing fetus [21,22].”
From Maternal Overnutrition and Fetal Programming: Long-Term Metabolic, Cognitive, and Epigenetic Consequences (2026) · cites this paper as [21]
Cites
Circulating angiogenic factors and the risk of preeclampsia
Levine, R. J., Maynard, S. E., Qian, C., Lim, K.-H., England, L. J., Yu, K. F., Schisterman, E. F., Thadhani, R., Sachs, B. P., Epstein, F. H., et al. (2004) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejmoa031884 · Cited by 3,720 · see citing works
The “Great Obstetrical Syndromes” are associated with disorders of deep placentation
Brosens, I., Pijnenborg, R., Vercruysse, L., & Romero, R. (2011) · American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology · doi:10.1016/j.ajog.2010.08.009 · Cited by 1,568 · see citing works
Placental hormones and the control of maternal metabolism and fetal growth
Newbern, D., & Freemark, M. (2011) · Current Opinion in Endocrinology, Diabetes & Obesity · doi:10.1097/med.0b013e32834c800d · Cited by 487 · cited 3× · see citing works
“During early pregnancy, they drive an increase in food intake and energy storage, whereas towards term, they mobilize these reserves to support fetal growth and preparation for lactation [66,67].”
BackgroundInfluentialElevated fetal steroidogenic activity in autism
Baron-Cohen, S., Auyeung, B., Nørgaard-Pedersen, B., Hougaard, D. M., Abdallah, M. W., Melgaard, L., Cohen, A. S., Chakrabarti, B., Ruta, L., & Lombardo, M. V. (2015) · Molecular Psychiatry · doi:10.1038/mp.2014.48 · Cited by 471 · see citing works
Yung, H.-W., Calabrese, S., Hynx, D., Hemmings, B. A., Cetin, I., Charnock-Jones, D. S., & Burton, G. J. (2008) · The American Journal of Pathology · doi:10.2353/ajpath.2008.071193 · Cited by 388 · see citing works
Self-citationComparative Placentation: Structures, Functions and Evolution
Wooding, P., & Burton, G. (2008) · doi:10.1007/978-3-540-78797-6 · Cited by 228 · see citing works
Self-citationRobbins, J. R., Skrzypczynska, K. M., Zeldovich, V. B., Kapidzic, M., & Bakardjiev, A. I. (2010) · PLoS Pathogens · doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1000732 · Cited by 212 · see citing works
Barbour, L. A., Shao, J., Qiao, L., Leitner, W., Anderson, M., Friedman, J. E., & Draznin, B. (2004) · Endocrinology · doi:10.1210/en.2003-1297 · Cited by 208 · see citing works
Burton, G. J., & Fowden, A. L. (2012) · Placenta · doi:10.1016/j.placenta.2011.11.013 · Cited by 177 · see citing works
Self-citationYung, H. W., Atkinson, D., Campion‐Smith, T., Olovsson, M., Charnock‐Jones, D. S., & Burton, G. J. (2014) · The Journal of Pathology · doi:10.1002/path.4394 · Cited by 156 · see citing works
Self-citationCindrova-Davies, T., Herrera, E. A., Niu, Y., Kingdom, J., Giussani, D. A., & Burton, G. J. (2013) · The American Journal of Pathology · doi:10.1016/j.ajpath.2013.01.001 · Cited by 135 · see citing works
Self-citationReshetnikova, O. S., Burton, G. J., & Milovanov, A. P. (1994) · American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology · doi:10.1016/0002-9378(94)90402-2 · Cited by 127 · see citing works
Self-citationPlacental-Specific Igf2 Deficiency Alters Developmental Adaptations to Undernutrition in Mice
Sferruzzi-Perri, A. N., Vaughan, O. R., Coan, P. M., Suciu, M. C., Darbyshire, R., Constancia, M., Burton, G. J., & Fowden, A. L. (2011) · Endocrinology · doi:10.1210/en.2011-0240 · Cited by 115 · see citing works
Self-citationMayhew, T. M., Jackson, M. R., & Boyd, P. A. (1993) · Placenta · doi:10.1016/s0143-4004(05)80248-6 · Cited by 80 · see citing works
Crosley, E. J., Elliot, M. G., Christians, J. K., & Crespi, B. J. (2013) · Placenta · doi:10.1016/j.placenta.2012.12.001 · Cited by 62 · see citing works
Diffusion permeability of cyanocobalamin in human placenta
Willis, D. M., O'Grady, J. P., Faber, J. J., & Thornburg, K. L. (1986) · American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology · doi:10.1152/ajpregu.1986.250.3.r459 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Onorati, M., Li, Z., Liu, F., Sousa, A. M. M., Nakagawa, N., Li, M., Dell’Anno, M. T., Gulden, F. O., Pochareddy, S., Tebbenkamp, A. T. N., et al. (2016) · Cell Reports · doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2016.08.038 · Cited by 292 · see citing works
Saenen, N. D., Vrijens, K., Janssen, B. G., Roels, H. A., Neven, K. Y., Vanden Berghe, W., Gyselaers, W., Vanpoucke, C., Lefebvre, W., De Boever, P., et al. (2017) · Environmental Health Perspectives · doi:10.1289/ehp38 · Cited by 104 · see citing works
Mitochondrial transformations in the aging human placenta
Bartho, L. A., Fisher, J. J., Cuffe, J. S. M., & Perkins, A. V. (2020) · American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism · doi:10.1152/ajpendo.00354.2020 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
Placental Drug Delivery to Treat Pre‐Eclampsia and Fetal Growth Restriction
Deepak, V., El‐Balawi, L., & Harris, L. K. (2024) · Small · doi:10.1002/smll.202311165 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Schiera, G., Macajone, G., Volpes, S., Greco, L., Di Liegro, C. M., Serio, G., Caradonna, F., & Naselli, F. (2026) · Cells · doi:10.3390/cells15040366 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Placental metabolomics for assessment of pregnancy complications: A systematic review
Mercer, G. V., & Cahill, L. S. (2026) · Molecular Omics · doi:10.1093/molecular-omics/aaiag015 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Tsaqifah, N. A., Hanifah, R., Husna, F. A., Hidayati, M. D., Widyawati, D., Putri, G. F. T., & Al Shadrina, A. (2025) · Nusantara Medical Science Journal · doi:10.20956/nmsj.v10i2.47907
“Maternal obesity induces systemic oxidative stress, increasing reactive oxygen species (ROS) and lipid peroxidation, which damage placental tissue and disturb foetal redox balance 19 .”
- Authors
- Burton, G. J., & Fowden, A. L.
- Affiliations
- University of Cambridge (GB)
- Venue
- Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
- Publisher
- The Royal Society
- Published
- 2015-03-05
- Volume
- 370
- Issue
- 1663
- Pages
- 20140066
- ISSN
- 0962-8436 (ISSN-L)
- 1471-2970
- PMC
- PMC4305167
- OpenAlex
- W2122546244
- Cited by
- 833
- References
- 16
- Citations by year
- 2026: 118 · 2025: 125 · 2024: 130 · 2023: 106 · 2022: 98 · 2021: 88 · 2020: 60 · 2019: 31 · 2018: 31 · 2017: 20 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 7
- FWCI
- 3.79
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Apollo (University of Cambridge) (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/I011773/1)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Obstetrics and Gynecology › Pregnancy and preeclampsia studies
- Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Immunology › Reproductive System and Pregnancy
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Birth, Development, and Health
- Keywords
- placenta, placental hormones, maternal metabolism, bipedalism, vena cava compression, preeclampsia, pregnancy complications, fetal brain development, placental immunity, maternal-fetal exchange
- MeSH terms
- Female, Fetus, Humans, Placenta, Placental Hormones, Posture, Pregnancy, Placental Circulation, Vascular Remodeling
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
