Changes to the gut microbiome — the bacteria and other organisms that live in the digestive tract — may play a role in the development of gestational diabetes, according to a new study published in the journal Gastroenterology.
Gestational diabetes develops during pregnancy, and is usually diagnosed based on routine screening. It usually goes away once a woman gives birth — although sometimes it doesn’t go away, and a woman is diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Women with a history of gestational diabetes are also more likely to develop type 2 diabetes later on. While medications such as insulin are sometimes needed to help treat gestational diabetes, many women with the condition can manage their blood glucose levels by carefully managing their diet. Risk factors for gestational diabetes include being older than 25, being overweight or obese, not getting enough physical activity, a family history of type 2 diabetes, and having had gestational diabetes during a previous pregnancy. For women who are overweight or obese following a pregnancy with gestational diabetes, losing weight may help reduce the risk for developing type 2 diabetes later on.
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For the latest study, researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) looked at how different human gut microbiome profiles affected the risk for gestational diabetes in mice — by giving the mice human fecal transplants. Scientists have known for a while that a woman’s gut microbiome tends to change during pregnancy, and by looking at how different human gut microbiomes affected glucose tolerance in mice, the researchers hoped to identify what kinds of changes were most likely to lead to gestational diabetes.
Certain metabolite linked to increased risk of insulin resistance
By looking at different substances present in the digestive tract of mice that underwent human fecal transplants, the researchers discovered that a metabolite — a substance produced by certain gut bacteria — known as kynurenine was linked to a higher risk for insulin resistance in pregnant mice. Kynurenine production is also linked to greater intestinal inflammation, and the researchers found evidence that by inhibiting the production of this chemical, both inflammation and insulin resistance could be reduced — a finding that could lead to treatments that inhibit kynurenine production and reduce the risk for gestational diabetes.
“These findings open up the opportunity for a screening approach for those who are at risk as well as a treatment approach for gestational diabetes where if you know they are at risk, we can modify their gut bacteria to prevent it from occurring,” said study author Brian Layden, MD, an associate professor and division chief at the UIC College of Medicine, in a press release on the study. This type of screening could even be done before pregnancy, according to Layden.
The next step, the researchers said, is to measure levels of different metabolites in human blood and fecal samples — from women with or without gestational diabetes — to find out if the findings of the latest study translate to humans. More studies of humans, including ones that test interventions aimed at halting gestational diabetes, could then follow.
Want to learn more about the microbiome? Read “Diabetes and the Microbiome” and “Five Ways to Improve Gut Health.”
Want to learn more about gestational diabetes? Read “Gestational Diabetes: Are You at Risk?” “Treating Gestational Diabetes,” and “What to Eat If You Have Gestational Diabetes.”