Pregnant mothers with unbalanced diets may be more likely to bear children at risk of adult type 2 diabetes, a study in mice suggests.
The experiments show that poor diet can lead to abnormal development of the pancreatic beta cells which make insulin, the hormone vital for regulating blood sugar levels. This can trigger diabetes in adulthood as the cells 鈥渨ear out鈥� sooner than usual, says of the University of Cambridge, co-leader of the team.
Female mice fed a low-protein diet carried fetuses with reduced production of a protein called Hnf4a in their beta cells. The researchers proved that this was caused by chemical 鈥渆辫颈驳别苍别迟颈肠鈥� changes to parts of the gene that codes for Hnf4a, making it less active than it should be. As a result, the beta cells 鈥渁ged鈥� prematurely even in the womb, so were relatively 鈥渙ld鈥� in the newborn pups.
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Ozanne says that similar ageing effects have been identified in beta cells from people with type 2 diabetes, but she adds that her team have yet to prove this is linked to poor maternal diet in humans.
Journal reference: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.10190 07108
