GDF15 linked to maternal risk of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. (10.1038/s41586-023-06921-9 [doi])

These scientists wanted to understand why some pregnant women feel very sick and throw up a lot, especially in a condition called hyperemesis gravidarum. They focused on a hormone called GDF15 that affects the brainstem and is thought to be related to this sickness. But they didn't know exactly how it works.

To figure this out, the scientists did some experiments. They tested the blood of pregnant women and found that those who had higher levels of GDF15 were more likely to throw up. They also used a special machine called mass spectrometry to see where the GDF15 in the blood was coming from. They discovered that most of it came from the baby and the placenta inside the mother's body.

Next, they looked at people who had certain genetic differences. They found that those with lower levels of GDF15 when they were not pregnant had a higher chance of getting hyperemesis gravidarum when they did become pregnant. On the other hand, they noticed that women with a condition called beta-thalassaemia, which makes their GDF15 levels always high, reported very little sickness during pregnancy.

To understand how GDF15 affects the body, the scientists studied mice. They found that when mice had higher levels of GDF15 before getting more of it, they didn't feel as sick. But if they had already been exposed to a lot of GDF15, they felt even sicker when they got more of it.

Based on all these findings, the scientists think that GDF15 produced by the baby plays a big role in making pregnant women feel sick. How sick they feel might also depend on how their bodies reacted to GDF15 before they got pregnant. This new information could help scientists find ways to treat and prevent hyperemesis gravidarum in the future.

Fejzo M., Rocha N., Cimino I., Lockhart SM., Petry CJ., Kay RG., Burling K., Barker P., George AL., Yasara N., Premawardhena A., Gong S., Cook E., Rimmington D., Rainbow K., Withers DJ., Cortessis V., Mullin PM., MacGibbon KW., Jin E., Kam A., Campbell A., Polasek O., Tzoneva G., Gribble FM., Yeo GSH., Lam BYH., Saudek V., Hughes IA., Ong KK., Perry JRB., Sutton Cole A., Baumgarten M., Welsh P., Sattar N., Smith GCS., Charnock-Jones DS., Coll AP., Meek CL., Mettananda S., Hayward C., Mancuso N., O'Rahilly S. GDF15 linked to maternal risk of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. Nature. 2024 Jan;625(7996):760-767. doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06921-9. Epub 2023 Dec 13.