| Gene variation linked to pregnancy-related
diabetes
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Some women are prone to develop diabetes
during pregnancy, and new research indicates that a variation in
a specific gene may be the cause in some cases
Austrian scientists have found that a variant of a gene called
calpain-10 gene is associated with the development of so-called
gestational diabetes, according to a report in the medical journal
Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Calpain-10 produces an enzyme involved in the processing of glucose
in skeletal muscle cells, the authors explain. A particular form
of the gene, designated haplotype 112/121, has already been linked
to impaired glucose tolerance and type 2 diabetes.
Dr. Christof Worda and colleagues from the University of Vienna
Medical School examined the 10 most common variants of calpain-10
in 80 pregnant women 40 with gestational diabetes and 40 without.
Gestational diabetes was present in all women with the haplotype
121/221 form, the team found.
"Our results indicate that the haplotype 121/221 of the calpain-10
gene may be associated with disturbances of glucose metabolism during
pregnancy," the authors conclude.
SOURCE: Obstetrics and Gynecology, June 2004.
Previous Diabetes
News 
|
