Blood Samples Taken During Early Pregnancy May Help Identify Mothers Who Are At An Increased Risk Of Developing Type 2 Diabetes, New Research Finds
A new study conducted by researchers at the University of Turku in Finland has found that mothers who developed prediabetes following pregnancy already had abnormalities within their blood serum metabolomic profile from early pregnancy.
In fact, the team found that these women specifically had higher concentrations of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) particles– which remove cholesterol and fats from cells before transporting them to the liver for re-utilization or excretion.
During pregnancy, women’s metabolism undergoes many changes to ensure the growth of their babies.
But, aberrations in metabolism during pregnancy were already discovered among women who developed gestational diabetes.
And being that gestational diabetes is a key risk factor for type 2 diabetes, the research team was eager to determine whether it was possible to figure out what women are at an increased risk of type 2 diabetes using their metabolism amid pregnancy.
So, the researchers conducted a mother-child study at Turku University Hospital and the University of Turku in Finland.
They collected blood samples from the mothers during both early and late pregnancy to analyze their metabolic profiles.
The team was able to measure the mothers’ serum metabolic profiles using a technique that recognizes over 200 metabolites as well as their ratios.
Afterward, the researchers also evaluated each mother’s postpartum insulin resistance and fasting blood glucose using traditional laboratory tests.
AnnaDemy – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual person
Finally, the team compared the serum metabolic profiles of two groups– pregnant women who developed prediabetes and pregnant women who had fasting glucose that remained at regular levels for two years following childbirth.
“We discovered that the metabolic profile in early pregnancy together with clinical variables– such as age and pre-pregnancy body mass index– predicted prediabetes at postpartum,” explained Ella Muhli, a doctoral researcher at the University of Turku.
“Higher concentrations of small HDL particles in blood circulation during early pregnancy were associated with higher fasting glucose and insulin resistance at two years postpartum,” Muhli continued.
“Based on our findings, women at increase risk for type 2 diabetes could possibly be identified in early pregnancy based on their serum metabolic profiles.”
But, it is important to note that the same associations were not found during late pregnancy.
To read the study’s complete findings, which have since been published in Metabolomics, visit the link here.
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