The placenta is the exchange organ that regulates metabolic processes between the mother and her developing fetus. The adequate function of this organ is clearly vital for a physiologic gestational process and a healthy baby as final outcome. The umbilico-placental vasculature has the capacity to respond to variations in the materno-fetal milieu. Depending on the intensity and the extensity of the insult, these responses may be immediate-, mediate-, and long-lasting, deriving in potential morphostructural and functional changes later in life. These adjustments usually compensate the initial insults, but occasionally may switch to long-lasting remodeling and dysfunctional processes, arising maladaptation. One of the most challenging conditions in modern perinatology is hypoxia and oxidative stress during development, both disorders occurring in high-altitude and in low-altitude placental insufficiency. Hypoxia and oxidative stress may induce endothelial dysfunction and thus, reduction in the perfusion of the placenta and restriction in the fetal growth and development. This Review will focus on placental responses to hypoxic conditions, usually related with high-altitude and placental insufficiency, deriving in oxidative stress and vascular disorders, altering fetal and maternal health. Although day-to-day clinical practice, basic and clinical research are clearly providing evidence of the severe impact of oxygen deficiency and oxidative stress establishment during pregnancy, further research on umbilical and placental vascular function under these conditions is badly needed to clarify the myriad of questions still unsettled.
Keywords: high-altitude; hypoxia; oxidative stress; placenta; vascular dysfunction.