Researchers lay the groundwork to study the effects of maternal diabetes on fetal metabolism and development

UCLA scientists examined how exposure to higher levels of glucose changes the metabolism of fetal tissues, using a technique they developed to trace carbon-13 in utero in fetal tissues. Their article, “Atlas of Fetal Metabolism in Mid-to-Late Gestation and Diabetic Pregnancy,” published in Cellreveals the impact of maternal hyperglycemia on fetal tissues.

If left unchecked, pregnant women with diabetes are more likely to give birth prematurely and die at birth, and they are also more likely to give birth to babies with birth defects of the brain and heart. For example, mothers with diabetes are five times more likely to give birth to a baby with cardiovascular abnormalities. To this day, we don’t know exactly why this happens.

Today, UCLA scientists published a seminal study that opens the door to understanding how high maternal blood sugar levels change the metabolism of the fetus as it develops in utero.

Using a mouse research model mimicking diabetic pregnancies, the UCLA team examined how exposure to higher levels of glucose changed fetal tissue metabolism. For this study, the researchers developed the in utero carbon-13 tracing technique in fetal tissues.

From mid to late gestation, they measured metabolites and metabolic activities in the placenta as well as the fetal brain, heart and liver. The researchers targeted the most common metabolites for analyzes and also conducted a broader, untargeted metabolomic analysis of metabolites that showed the greatest change during development.

This research establishes a basis for studying diabetic pregnancies and fetal health in utero, in the mid-to-late stages of gestation, when vital organs are forming. Researchers show how metabolic profiles change as fetal organs develop in utero and how metabolic activity is altered in fetuses of diabetic mothers.

Their study resulted in a wealth of data that other researchers can leverage, providing a useful resource for future studies of fetal metabolism, particularly in the context of diabetes. These findings open the possibility of research aimed at identifying specific treatments so that diabetic mothers have a better chance of delivering healthy babies.