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Placental Endocrine Activity: Adaptation and Disruption of Maternal Glucose Metabolism in Pregnancy and the Influence of Fetal Sex

The placenta is an endocrine fetal organ, which secretes a plethora of steroid- and proteo-hormones, metabolic proteins, growth factors, and cytokines in order to adapt maternal physiology to pregnancy. Central to the growth of the fetus is the supply with nutrients, foremost with glucose. Therefore...

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Autores principales: Stern, Christina, Schwarz, Sarah, Moser, Gerit, Cvitic, Silvija, Jantscher-Krenn, Evelyn, Gauster, Martin, Hiden, Ursula
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8657775/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34884524
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms222312722
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author Stern, Christina
Schwarz, Sarah
Moser, Gerit
Cvitic, Silvija
Jantscher-Krenn, Evelyn
Gauster, Martin
Hiden, Ursula
author_facet Stern, Christina
Schwarz, Sarah
Moser, Gerit
Cvitic, Silvija
Jantscher-Krenn, Evelyn
Gauster, Martin
Hiden, Ursula
author_sort Stern, Christina
collection PubMed
description The placenta is an endocrine fetal organ, which secretes a plethora of steroid- and proteo-hormones, metabolic proteins, growth factors, and cytokines in order to adapt maternal physiology to pregnancy. Central to the growth of the fetus is the supply with nutrients, foremost with glucose. Therefore, during pregnancy, maternal insulin resistance arises, which elevates maternal blood glucose levels, and consequently ensures an adequate glucose supply for the developing fetus. At the same time, maternal β-cell mass and function increase to compensate for the higher insulin demand. These adaptations are also regulated by the endocrine function of the placenta. Excessive insulin resistance or the inability to increase insulin production accordingly disrupts physiological modulation of pregnancy mediated glucose metabolism and may cause maternal gestational diabetes (GDM). A growing body of evidence suggests that this adaptation of maternal glucose metabolism differs between pregnancies carrying a girl vs. pregnancies carrying a boy. Moreover, the risk of developing GDM differs depending on the sex of the fetus. Sex differences in placenta derived hormones and bioactive proteins, which adapt and modulate maternal glucose metabolism, are likely to contribute to this sexual dimorphism. This review provides an overview on the adaptation and maladaptation of maternal glucose metabolism by placenta-derived factors, and highlights sex differences in this regulatory network.
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spelling pubmed-86577752021-12-10 Placental Endocrine Activity: Adaptation and Disruption of Maternal Glucose Metabolism in Pregnancy and the Influence of Fetal Sex Stern, Christina Schwarz, Sarah Moser, Gerit Cvitic, Silvija Jantscher-Krenn, Evelyn Gauster, Martin Hiden, Ursula Int J Mol Sci Review The placenta is an endocrine fetal organ, which secretes a plethora of steroid- and proteo-hormones, metabolic proteins, growth factors, and cytokines in order to adapt maternal physiology to pregnancy. Central to the growth of the fetus is the supply with nutrients, foremost with glucose. Therefore, during pregnancy, maternal insulin resistance arises, which elevates maternal blood glucose levels, and consequently ensures an adequate glucose supply for the developing fetus. At the same time, maternal β-cell mass and function increase to compensate for the higher insulin demand. These adaptations are also regulated by the endocrine function of the placenta. Excessive insulin resistance or the inability to increase insulin production accordingly disrupts physiological modulation of pregnancy mediated glucose metabolism and may cause maternal gestational diabetes (GDM). A growing body of evidence suggests that this adaptation of maternal glucose metabolism differs between pregnancies carrying a girl vs. pregnancies carrying a boy. Moreover, the risk of developing GDM differs depending on the sex of the fetus. Sex differences in placenta derived hormones and bioactive proteins, which adapt and modulate maternal glucose metabolism, are likely to contribute to this sexual dimorphism. This review provides an overview on the adaptation and maladaptation of maternal glucose metabolism by placenta-derived factors, and highlights sex differences in this regulatory network. MDPI 2021-11-24 /pmc/articles/PMC8657775/ /pubmed/34884524 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms222312722 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Review
Stern, Christina
Schwarz, Sarah
Moser, Gerit
Cvitic, Silvija
Jantscher-Krenn, Evelyn
Gauster, Martin
Hiden, Ursula
Placental Endocrine Activity: Adaptation and Disruption of Maternal Glucose Metabolism in Pregnancy and the Influence of Fetal Sex
title Placental Endocrine Activity: Adaptation and Disruption of Maternal Glucose Metabolism in Pregnancy and the Influence of Fetal Sex
title_full Placental Endocrine Activity: Adaptation and Disruption of Maternal Glucose Metabolism in Pregnancy and the Influence of Fetal Sex
title_fullStr Placental Endocrine Activity: Adaptation and Disruption of Maternal Glucose Metabolism in Pregnancy and the Influence of Fetal Sex
title_full_unstemmed Placental Endocrine Activity: Adaptation and Disruption of Maternal Glucose Metabolism in Pregnancy and the Influence of Fetal Sex
title_short Placental Endocrine Activity: Adaptation and Disruption of Maternal Glucose Metabolism in Pregnancy and the Influence of Fetal Sex
title_sort placental endocrine activity: adaptation and disruption of maternal glucose metabolism in pregnancy and the influence of fetal sex
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8657775/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34884524
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms222312722
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