Can hormones in the gut cause diabetes during pregnancy?

Our researchers want to understand whether the presence of certain chemicals and bacteria in the gut can cause the release of hormones that increase the risk of a woman developing diabetes during pregnancy.
  • Authors list

    Professor Catherine Williamson, Dr Caroline Ovadia, Dr Peter Dixon, Dr Alice Mitchell

    Start date: 2018
    End date: 2022

This project took place at our London centre which operated between 1995 and 2021.

Why do we need this research?

Diabetes that is diagnosed during pregnancy is known as gestational diabetes. Women with gestational diabetes are more likely to have large babies and are at higher risk of developing​​​​​​​ pre-eclampsia. Their babies are also more likely to have obesity, cardiovascular disease or type 2 diabetes in later life. Gestational diabetes is becoming more common and we need to find better ways of treating it.

What’s happening in this project?

There is growing evidence that the contents of our guts – both bacteria and the chemicals produced by our own bodies – can influence the risk of us developing diseases such as diabetes. Certain substances in the gut can make the body release hormones that in turn change the way it reacts to things like sugar and cholesterol, and it is possible that these hormones are involved in the development of diabetes during pregnancy. Our researchers think that women with gestational diabetes may have a different mixture of bacteria and chemicals in their gut, compared to women with a healthy pregnancy.

The team want to find out whether it is possible to alter the contents of a woman’s gut – and consequently the hormones that are released – by treating gestational diabetes. To find out the best way of doing this, they will look at the gut hormones found in women who are being treated in the GUARD study. In GUARD, women with gestational diabetes are receiving either metformin, a drug currently used to treat gestational diabetes, or UDCA, a drug that is currently used to treat​​​​​​​ intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy. Our researchers have already found that UDCA could be more effective than metformin at treating gestational diabetes, and they think this might be because of the way that UDCA is processed in the gut.

What difference will this project make?

This research could help us find safe, effective ways of controlling diabetes during pregnancy. This means we can help more women to have healthy babies without complications.

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