Mom's Diabetes May Impair Development of Baby's Kidneys: Study

Exposure to type 1 diabetes in the womb can lead to fewer nephrons in offspring, thereby impairing the development of kidneys in the babies, reveals a new study.

In utero exposure to maternal diabetes impairs nephron progenitor differentiation.

The incidence of diabetes mellitus has significantly increased among women of childbearing age and it has been shown that prenatal exposure to maternal diabetes increases the risk of associated congenital anomalies of the kidney.

‘Mothers who are diabetic during pregnancy can impair the development of babies kidneys, as exposure to type 1 diabetes in the womb can lead to fewer nephrons in offspring.’

Congenital anomalies of the kidney are amongst the leading causes of chronic kidney disease in children.

Also, moms with diabetes during pregnancy (gestational diabetes) are more likely to put their babies at a higher risk of developing diabetes, reports a new study. The findings of the study are published in the journal CMAJ.

The authors of this study are Debora M. Cerqueira, Shelby Lynn Hemker, Andrew J. Bodnar, Daniella M. Ortiz, Favour O. Oladipupo, Elina Mukherjee, Zhenwei Gong, Corynn Appolonia, Radhika H. Muzumdar, Sunder Sims-Lucas, Jacqueline Ho.

From the authors: "Our data from this model of maternal diabetes suggest impairment in the differentiation of nephron progenitors into renal vesicles, resulting in an overall decrease in nephron number."

This study is highlighted as one of November's "best of the best" as part of the American Physiological Society's APSselect program.



Source: Newswise