Endocrine Abstracts

Life on earth is governed by the continuous 24-hour cycle of light and dark. Organisms have adapted to this environment with clear diurnal rhythms in their physiology and metabolism enabling them to anticipate predictable environmental fluctuations over the day and to optimise the timing of relevant biological processes to this cycle. It is of considerable interest that the normal diurnal variation in these processes is lost in the presence of insulin resistance, obesity and d...

Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) is associated with adverse outcomes, including large-for-gestational age (LGA) babies who are are at greater risk of developing cardiovascular and metabolic diseases in adulthood. The mechanisms responsible for LGA are unclear but it is associated with altered placental development/function. Recent data also shows a link between temporal changes in maternal glucose and LGA; women with GDM that deliver appropriate for gestational age (AGA) in...

Aims: Women with gestational diabetes (GDM) who deliver large-for-gestational age (LGA) infants have subtle (1-1.5mM) differences in temporal maternal glucose control detectable by continuous glucose monitoring (CGM), compared to women who deliver appropriate-for-gestational-age (AGA) infants. It is unclear how these subtle changes cause LGA, but LGA has been linked to placental dysfunction. We aimed to develop an ex-vivo human placental model to mimic subtle differences in te...

Background: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is associated with increased rates of large-for-gestational-age (LGA) or small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infants. Currently, it is not possible to predict which women with GDM are at risk of delivering LGA or SGA infants. Fetuin-A, (α 2-Heremans Schmid glycoprotein; AHSG), a glycoprotein associated with insulin resistance is altered in GDM maternal serum. It is unclear if levels are related to altered fetal growth. This stud...

Introduction: Gestational diabetes (GDM) affects 1 in 6 pregnancies globally, increasing babies’ risk of being born large-for-gestational-age (LGA). This can cause birth injuries and predisposes offspring to developing cardio-metabolic disease in adulthood. The cause of LGA in GDM is unclear, however GDM placentas have been shown to display abnormal morphology indicative of vascular network immaturity. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are known regulators of vascular development, inclu...

Pregnancies affected by GDM commonly result in large-for-gestational-age (LGA) infants, which have an increased risk of developing cardiometabolic complications. The mechanisms responsible are unclear but are associated with altered placental physiology. We have previously reported that miRNAs, including pancreatic specific miR-375, are altered in maternal serum extracellular vesicles (EVs) prior to the onset of LGA, and in term placenta. We assessed maternal pancreatic-derive...

Background: Gestational diabetes (GDM) leads to an increased risk of delivering large-for-gestational-age infants (LGA), which has been linked to altered placental vascular development. Women with GDM who deliver LGA infants have temporal periods of mild hyperglycaemia, detectable by continuous glucose monitoring (CGM), compared to women who deliver appropriate-for-gestational-age infants (AGA). This study aimed to assess the impact of physiological periods and levels of hyper...

Metformin is a first-line therapy for type-2 diabetes mellitus and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) which shows significant benefits for maternal health. However, offspring exposed to metformin in-utero have an increased risk of being born small for gestational age and developing cardiometabolic complications in adulthood. The mechanisms responsible are unknown. As fetal growth is dependent on optimal placental function, we assessed whether metformin exposure alter...

Introduction: The circadian clock controls numerous aspects of mammalian physiology across the 24 hour day, including lipid and glucose metabolism. Disruption of the core circadian gene CLOCK is associated with the development of obesity, diabetes and the metabolic syndrome in mice. Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) are at increased risk of developing diabetes, dyslipidemia and the metabolic syndrome. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship o...

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) increases fetal morbidity/mortality, and is associated with elevated risks of offspring cardiometabolic disease. These risks are compounded in infants born large for gestational age (LGA) rather than appropriate size (AGA), a common complication of GDM associated with altered placental function. Circulating extracellular vesicle (EV)-associated miRNAs are internalised into the placenta and are emerging as key GDM mediators, with their role i...