Uising WinBUGS to fit nonlinear mixed models with an application to pharmacokinetic modelling of insulin response to glucose challenge in sheep exposed antenatally to glucocorticoids.

Abstract

Many chronic diseases of adulthood, such as hypertension and diabetes, are now believed to have at least some of their origins before birth. Extensive studies in animal models have identified antenatal exposure to excess glucocorticoids as a leading candidate for the physiological cause of fetal compromise. The resulting adverse intra-uterine environment appears to "program" the individual for higher risk of subsequent disease. We present an analysis of blood glucose and insulin concentrations collected during glucose tolerance tests at 6 and 12 months postnatal age in a cohort of sheep that were treated antenatally with injections of betamethasone (a synthetic glucocorticoid) which, when in..