RT Journal Article
T1 Maternal Metformin Treatment Improves Developmental and Metabolic Traits of IUGR Fetuses
A1 Garcia-Contreras, Consolación
A1 Vázquez Gómez, Marta
A1 Pesantez-Pacheco, José Luis
A1 Torres-Rovira, Laura
A1 De las Heras Molina, Ana
A1 Encinas Cerezo, María Teresa
A1 Astiz, Susana
A1 González Bulnes, Antonio
AB Metformin is an anti-hyperglycemic drug widely used for the treatment of insulin resistance and glucose intolerance and is currently considered for preventing large-for-gestational-age (LGA) offspring in pregnant women affected by obesity or diabetes. Our hypothesis was the opposite—metformin may be used for improving the development of offspring affected by intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and preventing the appearance of small-for-gestational-age (SGA) neonates in non-obese and non-diabetic but malnourished pregnancies. The current study, performed in a swine preclinical model of IUGR by undernutrition, showed that fetuses in the treated group showed no significant increases in body-weight, but showed a significantly higher weight of the brain, the total thoracic and abdominal viscera, the liver, the kidneys, the spleen, and the adrenal glands. Maternal metformin treatment was also related to significant increases in the fetal plasma concentration of parameters indicative of glycemic (glucose and fructosamine) and lipid profiles (triglycerides). Overall, these results suggest a protective effect of the treatment on the developmental competence of the fetuses. These findings may be of high value for human medicine in case of maternal malnutrition, since metformin is a cheap drug easily available, but also in case of placental deficiency, since metformin seems to improve placental development and function.
PB MDPI
SN 2218-273X
YR 2019
FD 2019-04-29
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/12505
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/12505
LA eng
NO Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO)/FEDER
NO Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN)
DS Docta Complutense
RD 18 abr 2025