ABSTRACT
Introduction: Many epidemiological studies suggest that the intrauterine environment is extremely importantto the determination of the individuals future health. Alterations in the maternal nutritional state, reflectedon the weight on birth, may program the litter for the development of diseases on the adult age. Studies withanimals exposed to intrauterine malnutrition have suggested a reduction in the number of glomeruli, as wellas arterial pressure increase. To review in the literature the alterations of the renal physiology of adult Wistarrats exposed to malnourishment during intrauterine life. Material and methods: A search was performedin the following databases: SciELO, MEDLINE, PUBMED, SCIENCE DIRECT and LILACS. The mainsearch terms were malnutrition and renal function both in Portuguese and in English. Were includedoriginal articles involving albino rats. Were excluded the review articles as well as those involving humanbeings. Results: According to Franco et al. (2009) the renal function and the number of glomeruli werereduced by the intrauterine malnutrition, predisposing the adult animals to renal diseases. For Chen and Chou(2009) the glomerular ultrastructure is not affected by maternal undernutrition, suggesting that this factordoes not contribute to the hypertension pathogenesis after maternal malnutrition. Conclusion: Intrauterinemalnourishment seems to interfere in the renal functions programming with alterations to the glomerulimorphology, but its mechanisms are yet uncertain. More randomized studies and clinical essays are suggestedin order to comprehend the factors that cause such process.