Development of Adipose Tissue in Newborns of Gestational-diabetic and Insulin-dependent Diabetic Mothers

Abstract

Some parameters of adipose tissue development have been studied in normal, full-term infants of gestational-diabetic mothers (GDM) and insulin-dependent diabetic mothers (IDDM). Values of skinfold thickness, body fat mass, and fat cell weight in full-term newborns of GDM and IDDM are greater than in infants of nondiabetic mothers. Fat mass enlargement in newborns of diabetic mothers seems to be caused almost exclusively by an increase in the triglyceride content of the single adipocytes. Results of determinations of fat cell weight are in fact significantly higher in newborns of GDM and IDDM and correlate closely with skinfold thickness and body fat mass: No differences resulted in the approximate estimate of fat cell number. Neither maternal weight gain during pregnancy nor pregravidic overweight seem to be directly related to the expansion of adipose tissue observed in newborns of diabetic mothers. Maternal blood glucose levels and neonatal IRI levels in cord blood significantly correlated with fat cell weight. Maternal FFA levels are not related to parameters of adipose tissue development in newborns of normal, GD, and IDD mothers. In conclusion, enlargement of body fat mass in full-term infants of GDM and IDDM is dependent on glucose availability and, thus, on the insulin-induced enhancement of triglyceride synthesis and storage in single adipocytes. Free fatty acids do not seem to play an important role in regulating the triglyceride content of fat cells in newborns of gestational-diabetic or insulin-dependent diabetic mothers.