Atlas of fetal metabolism during mid-to-late gestation and diabetic pregnancy. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38070508/)

These scientists wanted to understand how the food that a baby gets from its mother affects its growth and development. They were particularly interested in how the baby's metabolism, which is how the body uses and breaks down food, changes during pregnancy.

To do this, the scientists studied baby mice in their mom's womb. They looked at the metabolism of different organs in the baby mice, such as their brains, hearts, livers, and placentas. They used a special kind of sugar called (13)C-glucose and a machine called liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) to see how the sugar was being used in the baby mice's bodies.

The scientists found that when the mother mice had high levels of sugar in their blood (called hyperglycemia), the baby mice had some changes in their metabolism. They saw that a substance called sorbitol built up in the baby mice's tissues, and the levels of certain chemicals in their brains were different too.

They also found that the baby mice got their nutrients from their mothers differently depending on whether the mothers had high or normal levels of sugar in their blood. Finally, the scientists discovered that certain substances made from a protein called histidine built up in the baby mice's tissues as they got closer to being born, no matter if their mothers had high or normal levels of sugar.

Overall, this study gave the scientists a lot of information about how the baby mice's bodies use food during pregnancy and how it is affected by the mother's blood sugar levels.

Perez-Ramirez CA., Nakano H., Law RC., Matulionis N., Thompson J., Pfeiffer A., Park JO., Nakano A., Christofk HR. Atlas of fetal metabolism during mid-to-late gestation and diabetic pregnancy. Cell. 2024 Jan 4;187(1):204-215.e14. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2023.11.011. Epub 2023 Dec 8.