Molecular Biology of Gestational Diabetes: The Culprit of the Diabetes Pandemic
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Endocrinology and Metabolism".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2023) | Viewed by 44637
Special Issue Editors
Interests: type 1 diabetes; type 2 diabetes; obesity; beta cell biology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: My research interests are focussed on understanding the mechanisms by which in utero exposures, such as suboptimal nutrition, influence risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity and premature death. The long-term goal is to use this mechanistic insight to design rational intervention strategies to improve health of women and their children
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The diabetes pandemic continues to increase worldwide. According to IDF, the number of diabetic patients is estimated to increase from 463 million in 2019 to 700 million in 2045. A major contributor is transgenerational transmission by epigenetic changes occurring during pregnancy. According to IDF, 15.8% of live births are affected by gestational diabetes (GDM). GDM is associated with obesity (maternal and paternal) and diabetes (type 1 and 2). The risk for both offspring and mother to develop type 2 diabetes later in life is increased 7–8-fold. The number and function of the pancreatic beta cells during pregnancy play a central role in the development of diabetes in both mother and offspring. Normally, the beta cell number will increase in the pregnant woman due to hormonal and metabolic changes concomitantly with the fetal development of the pancreas. In GDM, hyperglycemia may result in premature maturation of the fetal beta cells and growth of the child. Malnourishment during pregnancy may result in impaired development of the beta cells in the fetus by fetal programming that may be transmitted to the next generation. Recent studies of gene expression and epigenetic changes during embryonic development of the pancreas have identified a number of non-coding RNAs and histone modifications related to GDM.
The purpose of this Special Issue is to gather the current knowledge in this research area in order to depict novel approaches to prevent or treat GDM and hopefully break the diabetes pandemic.
Prof. Dr. Jens Høiriis Nielsen
Prof. Dr. Susan E. Ozanne
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- Gestational diabetes
- Beta cells
- Fetal programming
- Epigenetics
- Diabetes pandemic
- Genetics
- Autoimmunity
- Microbiota
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