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Hivert MF, Backman H, Benhalima K, Catalano P, Desoye G, Immanuel J, McKinlay CJD, Meek CL, Nolan CJ, Ram U, Sweeting A, Simmons D, Jawerbaum A. Pathophysiology from preconception, during pregnancy, and beyond. Lancet 2024; 404:158-174. [PMID: 38909619 DOI: 10.1016/s0140-6736(24)00827-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2024] [Revised: 04/07/2024] [Accepted: 04/19/2024] [Indexed: 06/25/2024]
Abstract
Gestational diabetes is the most common medical complication in pregnancy. Historically, gestational diabetes was considered a pregnancy complication involving treatment of rising glycaemia late in the second trimester. However, recent evidence challenges this view. Pre-pregnancy and pregnancy-specific factors influence gestational glycaemia, with open questions regarding roles of non-glycaemic factors in the aetiology and consequences of gestational diabetes. Varying patterns of insulin secretion and resistance in early and late pregnancy underlie a heterogeneity of gestational diabetes in the timing and pathophysiological subtypes with clinical implications: early gestational diabetes and insulin resistant gestational diabetes subtypes are associated with a higher risk of pregnancy complications. Metabolic perturbations of early gestational diabetes can affect early placental development, affecting maternal metabolism and fetal development. Fetal hyperinsulinaemia can affect the development of multiple fetal tissues, with short-term and long-term consequences. Pregnancy complications are prevented by managing glycaemia in early and late pregnancy in some, but not all women with gestational diabetes. A better understanding of the pathophysiology and heterogeneity of gestational diabetes will help to develop novel management approaches with focus on improved prevention of maternal and offspring short-term and long-term complications, from pre-conception, throughout pregnancy, and beyond.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marie-France Hivert
- Division of Chronic Disease Research Across the Lifecourse (CoRAL), Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston, MA, USA; Diabetes Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Helena Backman
- Faculty of Medicine and Health, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden
| | - Katrien Benhalima
- Endocrinology, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Patrick Catalano
- Maternal Infant Research Institute, Obstetrics and Gynecology Research, Tufts Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA; School of Medicine, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Gernot Desoye
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Jincy Immanuel
- School of Medicine, Western Sydney University, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Institute for Women's Health, College of Nursing, Texas Woman's University, Denton, TX, USA
| | - Christopher J D McKinlay
- Department of Paediatrics Child and Youth Health, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand; Kidz First Neonatal Care, Te Whatu Ora Counties Manukau, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Claire L Meek
- Leicester Diabetes Centre, Leicester General Hospital, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK
| | - Christopher J Nolan
- School of Medicine and Psychology, College of Health and Medicine, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia; Department of Endocrinology, Canberra Health Services, Woden, ACT, Australia
| | - Uma Ram
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Seethapathy Clinic and Hospital, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India
| | - Arianne Sweeting
- Department of Endocrinology, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - David Simmons
- School of Medicine, Western Sydney University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
| | - Alicia Jawerbaum
- Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA)-CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Laboratory of Reproduction and Metabolism, CEFYBO-CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
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Zhu F, McSwiggin H, Zyuzin J, Liu J, Yan W, Rehan VK, Jendzjowsky N. Epigenetic upregulation of carotid body angiotensin signaling increases blood pressure. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.05.10.593589. [PMID: 38798667 PMCID: PMC11118542 DOI: 10.1101/2024.05.10.593589] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/29/2024]
Abstract
Epigenetic changes can be shaped by a wide array of environmental cues as well as maternal health and behaviors. One of the most detrimental behaviors to the developing fetus is nicotine exposure. Perinatal nicotine exposure remains a significant risk factor for cardiovascular health and in particular, hypertension. Increased basal carotid body activity and excitation are significant contributors to hypertension. This study investigated the epigenetic changes to carotid body activity induced by perinatal nicotine exposure resulting in carotid body-mediated hypertension. Using a rodent model of perinatal nicotine exposure, we show that angiotensin II type 1 receptor signaling is upregulated in the carotid bodies of nicotine-exposed offspring. These changes were attributed to an upregulation of genetic promotion as DNA methylation of AT1r and PKC occurred within intron regions, exemplifying an upregulation of genetic transcription for these genes. Nicotine increased angiotensin signaling in vitro . Carotid body reactivity to angiotensin was increased in perinatal nicotine-exposed offspring compared to control offspring. Further, carotid body denervation reduced arterial pressure as a result of suppressed efferent sympathetic activity in perinatal nicotine-exposed offspring. Our data demonstrate that perinatal nicotine exposure adversely affects carotid body afferent sensing, which augments efferent sympathetic activity to increase vasoconstrictor signaling and induce hypertension. Targeting angiotensin signaling in the carotid bodies may provide a way to alleviate hypertension acquired by adverse maternal uterine environments in general and perinatal nicotine exposure in particular.
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Fuenzalida B, Yañez MJ, Mueller M, Mistry HD, Leiva A, Albrecht C. Evidence for hypoxia-induced dysregulated cholesterol homeostasis in preeclampsia: Insights into the mechanisms from human placental cells and tissues. FASEB J 2024; 38:e23431. [PMID: 38265294 PMCID: PMC10953329 DOI: 10.1096/fj.202301708rr] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2023] [Revised: 12/21/2023] [Accepted: 01/04/2024] [Indexed: 01/25/2024]
Abstract
Preeclampsia (PE) poses a considerable risk to the long-term cardiovascular health of both mothers and their offspring due to a hypoxic environment in the placenta leading to reduced fetal oxygen supply. Cholesterol is vital for fetal development by influencing placental function. Recent findings suggest an association between hypoxia, disturbed cholesterol homeostasis, and PE. This study investigates the influence of hypoxia on placental cholesterol homeostasis. Using primary human trophoblast cells and placentae from women with PE, various aspects of cholesterol homeostasis were examined under hypoxic and hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) conditions. Under hypoxia and H/R, intracellular total and non-esterified cholesterol levels were significantly increased. This coincided with an upregulation of HMG-CoA-reductase and HMG-CoA-synthase (key genes regulating cholesterol biosynthesis), and a decrease in acetyl-CoA-acetyltransferase-1 (ACAT1), which mediates cholesterol esterification. Hypoxia and H/R also increased the intracellular levels of reactive oxygen species and elevated the expression of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-2α and sterol-regulatory-element-binding-protein (SREBP) transcription factors. Additionally, exposure of trophoblasts to hypoxia and H/R resulted in enhanced cholesterol efflux to maternal and fetal serum. This was accompanied by an increased expression of proteins involved in cholesterol transport such as the scavenger receptor class B type I (SR-BI) and the ATP-binding cassette transporter G1 (ABCG1). Despite these metabolic alterations, mitogen-activated-protein-kinase (MAPK) signaling, a key regulator of cholesterol homeostasis, was largely unaffected. Our findings indicate dysregulation of cholesterol homeostasis at multiple metabolic points in both the trophoblast hypoxia model and placentae from women with PE. The increased cholesterol efflux and intracellular accumulation of non-esterified cholesterol may have critical implications for both the mother and the fetus during pregnancy, potentially contributing to an elevated cardiovascular risk later in life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barbara Fuenzalida
- Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of MedicineUniversity of BernBernSwitzerland
| | - Maria Jose Yañez
- School of Medical Technology, Faculty of Medicine and ScienceUniversidad San SebastiánSantiagoChile
| | - Martin Mueller
- Division of Gynecology and ObstetricsLindenhofgruppeBernSwitzerland
- Department for BioMedical ResearchUniversity of BernBernSwitzerland
| | - Hiten D. Mistry
- Department of Women and Children's HealthSchool of Life Course and Population Health Sciences, King's College LondonLondonUK
| | - Andrea Leiva
- School of Medical Technology, Faculty of Medicine and ScienceUniversidad San SebastiánSantiagoChile
| | - Christiane Albrecht
- Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of MedicineUniversity of BernBernSwitzerland
- Swiss National Center of Competence in Research, NCCR TransCureUniversity of BernBernSwitzerland
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Sato H, Leonardi ML, Roberti SL, Jawerbaum A, Higa R. Maternal diabetes increases FOXO1 activation during embryonic cardiac development. Mol Cell Endocrinol 2023; 575:111999. [PMID: 37391062 DOI: 10.1016/j.mce.2023.111999] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2023] [Revised: 06/26/2023] [Accepted: 06/27/2023] [Indexed: 07/02/2023]
Abstract
Maternal diabetes is known to affect heart development, inducing the programming of cardiac alterations in the offspring's adult life. Previous studies in the heart of adult offspring have shown increased activation of FOXO1 (a transcription factor involved in a wide variety of cellular functions such as apoptosis, cellular proliferation, reactive oxygen species detoxification, and antioxidant and pro-inflammatory processes) and of target genes related to inflammatory and fibrotic processes. In this work, we aimed to evaluate the effects of maternal diabetes on FOXO1 activation as well as on the expression of target genes relevant to the formation of the cardiovascular system during organogenesis (day 12 of gestation). The embryonic heart from diabetic rats showed increased active FOXO1 levels, reduced protein levels of mTOR (a nutrient sensor regulating cell growth, proliferation and metabolism) and reduced mTORC2-SGK1 pathway, which phosphorylates FOXO1. These alterations were related to increases in the levels of 4-hydroxynonenal (an oxidative stress marker) and increased mRNA levels of inducible nitric oxide synthase, angiopoietin-2 and matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP2) (all FOXO1 target genes relevant for cardiac development). Results also showed increased extracellular and intracellular immunolocalization of MMP2 in the myocardium and its projection into the lumen of the cavity (trabeculations) together with decreased immunostaining of connexin 43, a protein relevant for cardiac function that is target of MMP2. In conclusion, increases in active FOXO1 induced by maternal diabetes initiate early during embryonic heart development and are related to increases in markers of oxidative stress and of proinflammatory cardiac development, as well to an altered expression of proteolytic enzymes that regulate connexin 43. These alterations may lead to an altered programming of cardiovascular development in the embryonic heart of diabetic rats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hugo Sato
- Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Medicina, Buenos Aires, Argentina; CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires, Laboratory of Reproduction and Metabolism, CEFYBO, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - María Laura Leonardi
- Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Medicina, Buenos Aires, Argentina; CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires, Laboratory of Reproduction and Metabolism, CEFYBO, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Sabrina Lorena Roberti
- Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Medicina, Buenos Aires, Argentina; CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires, Laboratory of Reproduction and Metabolism, CEFYBO, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Alicia Jawerbaum
- Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Medicina, Buenos Aires, Argentina; CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires, Laboratory of Reproduction and Metabolism, CEFYBO, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Romina Higa
- Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Medicina, Buenos Aires, Argentina; CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires, Laboratory of Reproduction and Metabolism, CEFYBO, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
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Huluta I, Wright A, Cosma LM, Hamed K, Nicolaides KH, Charakida M. Fetal Cardiac Function at Midgestation in Women Who Subsequently Develop Gestational Diabetes. JAMA Pediatr 2023; 177:718-725. [PMID: 37184868 PMCID: PMC10186208 DOI: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2023.1174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2022] [Accepted: 03/20/2023] [Indexed: 05/16/2023]
Abstract
Importance Fetuses in women with gestational diabetes (GD) compared with those without GD show evidence of subclinical cardiac functional and morphological changes. However, it is uncertain whether glycemia or the adverse maternal underlying risk factor profile is the main driver for fetal cardiac remodeling. Objective To assess cardiac morphology and function at midgestation in fetuses of mothers prior to development of GD and compare them with those of unaffected controls. Design, Setting, and Participants During this prospective nonintervention screening study at 19 to 23 weeks' gestation, fetal cardiac morphology and function were assessed in all participants. Pregnancy complications were obtained from the medical records of the women. Fetal cardiac morphology and function were assessed in all participants at Harris Birthright Research Institute at King's College Hospital, London, United Kingdom. Participants included pregnant women with singleton pregnancy who attended their routine fetal ultrasound examination at midgestation and agreed to participate in the Advanced Cardiovascular Imaging Study in pregnancy. Main Outcome and Measures Comparison of fetal cardiac morphology and function between mothers who subsequently developed GD and those who did not develop GD. Methods This was a prospective nonintervention screening study of 5620 women with singleton pregnancies at 19 to 23 weeks' gestation. Conventional and more advanced echocardiographic modalities, such as speckle tracking, were used to assess fetal cardiac function in the right and left ventricle. The morphology of the fetal heart was assessed by calculating the right and left sphericity index. Results The 5620 included patients had a mean age of 33.6 years. In 470 cases, the women were diagnosed with GD after the midgestation echocardiographic assessment (8.4%). Women with GD, compared with the non-GD group, were older, had higher BMI, higher prevalence of family history of diabetes, non-White ethnicity, chronic hypertension, and GD in a previous pregnancy. In fetuses of the GD group compared with the non-GD group, there was mild increase in interventricular millimeter thickness (0.04; 95% CI, 0.03-0.06 mm) and left atrial area (0.04; 95% CI, 0.04-0.05), whereas left and right functional indices were comparable between groups with the exception of left ventricular ejection fraction, which was marginally improved in the GD group (0.02; 95% CI, 0.03-0.03). Conclusions and Relevance This study demonstrates that prior to development of GD, there was mild alteration in fetal cardiac morphology without affecting cardiac function. This suggests that the adverse maternal risk factor profile and not only the glycemia might contribute to cardiac remodeling noted in fetuses of women with GD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iulia Huluta
- Harris Birthright Research Centre for Fetal Medicine, King’s College Hospital, London, United Kingdom
| | - Alan Wright
- Institute of Health Research, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom
| | - Livia Mihaela Cosma
- Harris Birthright Research Centre for Fetal Medicine, King’s College Hospital, London, United Kingdom
| | - Karam Hamed
- Harris Birthright Research Centre for Fetal Medicine, King’s College Hospital, London, United Kingdom
| | - Kypros H. Nicolaides
- Harris Birthright Research Centre for Fetal Medicine, King’s College Hospital, London, United Kingdom
| | - Marietta Charakida
- Harris Birthright Research Centre for Fetal Medicine, King’s College Hospital, London, United Kingdom
- School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
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Higher pulse wave velocity in young adult offspring of mothers with type 1 diabetes: a case-control study. Cardiovasc Diabetol 2022; 21:178. [PMID: 36068528 PMCID: PMC9450321 DOI: 10.1186/s12933-022-01612-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2022] [Accepted: 08/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Offspring of mothers with type 1 diabetes have an increased risk for acquiring early onset cardiovascular disease (CVD). Arterial stiffness, measured as pulse wave velocity (PWV), is a non-invasive biomarker for CVD risk assessment. Our aim is to determine whether PWV is increased in young adult offspring of mothers with type 1 diabetes. METHODS This is a case-control study carried out in the hospital district of Helsinki and Uusimaa, Finland. 75 offspring of mothers with type 1 diabetes (cases) and 84 offspring of mothers without diabetes (controls), aged 18-23 years, were enrolled in this study. All participants attended clinical assessments, including questionnaires and laboratory tests. Carotid-femoral PWV (cfPWV), carotid-radial PWV (crPWV), and PWV ratio were measured from each participant using the Complior Analyse mechanotransducer (Alam Medical, France). Student's t-test and chi-squared test were used to assess differences between the groups. Stata 17.0, StataCorp LP (College Station, TX, USA) statistical package was used for the analysis. RESULTS We did not observe any differences in conventional CVD risk factors: systolic blood pressure, LDL, HbA1c, and smoking between cases and controls. We detected higher cfPWV in cases 6.5 (SD ± 1.2) m/s than in controls 6.2 (SD ± 0.7) m/s, p = 0.049, after adjustments for BMI, smoking, mean arterial pressure, height, and pulse rate was made. We did not observe any difference between cases and controls regarding crPWV or PWV ratio. Additionally, we detected no sex differences. CONCLUSIONS We report a novel finding of signs of increased arterial stiffness already in young adult offspring of mothers with type 1 diabetes compared to matched offspring of mothers without diabetes. Our finding suggests that exposure to an adverse intrauterine environment of type 1 diabetes mothers may affect the vascular health of offspring already in young adulthood. Additional research within this topic is warranted.
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