Xulu Nombuso, Nkosi Ayanda, Khathi Andile, Sibiya Ntethelelo H, Ngubane Phikelelani S
Schools of Laboratory Medicine and Medical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.
Pharmacology Division, Faculty of Pharmacy, Rhodes University, Makhanda, South Africa.
Diabetes Metab Syndr Obes. 2025 Mar 21;18:831-845. doi: 10.2147/DMSO.S436001. eCollection 2025.
Infants delivered from preeclamptic pregnancies frequently exhibit developmental programming which leads to foetal growth restriction and foetal haematological abnormalities. Diabetes is recognised as a predisposing factor for preeclampsia (PE). Hyperglycaemia, a characteristic feature of pregestational type 2 diabetes, has been associated with the pathogenesis of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), a condition associated with disrupted foetal haematological pathways. Prediabetes pre-empts the onset of type 2 diabetes and is characterised by moderately elevated blood glucose levels, which have been shown in prediabetic models to induce erythrocyte dysfunction. However, the precise relationship between prediabetes and the development of preeclampsia or associated foetal complications remains to be fully elucidated. Accordingly, this study aims to investigate prediabetes as a risk factor for preeclampsia and its effects on selected haematological markers in Sprague Dawley rat pups.
Male and female pups born from normal, L-NAME preeclamptic and HFHC diet-induced prediabetic dams were immediately collected and weighed. The pups were then carefully returned to the dams for further development. On day 21, the pups were weaned and separated into males and females. Thereafter, the pups were sacrificed using a guillotine and blood and plasma was collected for haematological and biochemical analysis.
Pups born from prediabetic and preeclamptic dams exhibited significantly lower birth weights than those born from normal pregnancies. Moreover, pups born from prediabetic and preeclamptic dams exhibited dysregulation of red blood cell (RBC) count, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), erythropoietin (EPO) levels, glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and malondialdehyde (MDA) concentrations compared to those delivered from normal dams.
These findings suggest prediabetes caused dysregulation of haematological parameters in offspring and may be a predisposing factor for the development of preeclampsia in pregnancy. Therefore, strict monitoring of prediabetes during pregnancy may reduce the risk of preeclampsia and resultant foetal morbidity and mortality.
子痫前期妊娠分娩的婴儿常表现出发育编程，导致胎儿生长受限和胎儿血液学异常。糖尿病被认为是子痫前期（PE）的一个易感因素。高血糖是孕前2型糖尿病的一个特征性表现，与宫内生长受限（IUGR）的发病机制有关，IUGR是一种与胎儿血液学通路紊乱相关的疾病。糖尿病前期先于2型糖尿病发病，其特征是血糖水平中度升高，在糖尿病前期模型中已显示这种血糖水平会诱导红细胞功能障碍。然而，糖尿病前期与子痫前期的发生或相关胎儿并发症之间的确切关系仍有待充分阐明。因此，本研究旨在调查糖尿病前期作为子痫前期的一个危险因素及其对斯普拉格-道利大鼠幼崽选定血液学标志物的影响。
立即收集并称重由正常、L-NAME诱导子痫前期和高脂高糖饮食诱导糖尿病前期的母鼠所生的雄性和雌性幼崽。然后将幼崽小心地放回母鼠身边以进一步发育。在第21天，幼崽断奶并按雌雄分开。此后，使用断头台处死幼崽，并采集血液和血浆用于血液学和生化分析。
糖尿病前期和子痫前期母鼠所生的幼崽出生体重明显低于正常妊娠所生的幼崽。此外，与正常母鼠所生的幼崽相比，糖尿病前期和子痫前期母鼠所生的幼崽红细胞（RBC）计数、粒细胞集落刺激因子（G-CSF）、促红细胞生成素（EPO）水平、谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶（GPx）和丙二醛（MDA）浓度出现失调。
这些发现表明糖尿病前期导致后代血液学参数失调，可能是妊娠期子痫前期发生的一个易感因素。因此，孕期严格监测糖尿病前期可能会降低子痫前期的风险以及由此导致的胎儿发病率和死亡率。
