Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology - Volume 15, Issue 1, 2014

Metabolic diseases induced by metabolic syndrome (MS) have been increased during the past two decades. During healthy pregnancy maternal organs and placenta are challenged to adapt to the increasingly physiological changes. In addition to the increasingly proatherogenic MS, pregnant woman develops a high cardiac output, hypercoagulability, increased inflammatory activity and insulin resistance with dyslipidemia. The Read More

Currently, it is well-known that changes in the maternal metabolic status induce changes in the intrauterine environment and modify the metabolic status of the fetuses, playing a key role in the growth, life-time fitness/obesity and probability of appearance of metabolic disorders in the offspring. There is increasing evidence that these effects may not be only limited to the first generation of descendants, the offspring directly expo Read More

More glucose crosses the placenta than any other substrate, but correlations between its concentration in maternal plasma and fetal growth are not found consistently. The accumulation of maternal fat depots and hyperlipidemia are the two principal changes in lipid metabolism during pregnancy. Although lipids cross the placenta with difficulty, maternal plasma triacylglycerols (TAG) and non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) Read More

Gestational diabetes mellitus is one of the most often medical conditions during pregnancy affecting 5-6% of all pregnancies. The etiology of gestational diabetes is not clearly understood. In obesity and diabetes mellitus type 2, abnormal insulin signaling is an important agent mediating the increase of insulin resistance. Insulin receptor substrate serine phosphorylation is a time-controlled physiological reaction in insulin si Read More

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) represents a condition of glucose intolerance with first appearance or recognition at the time of a pregnancy, associated with an inadequate pancreatic response to the advanced insulin resistance of the later stages of pregnancy, and accompanied by enhancing β-cell mass and secretion of insulin. Women who had GDM exhibit a higher risk for later advent of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T Read More

Pregnancy is a specific state of heightened coagulability related to the increase in procoagulant agents and to the reduced fibrinolysis. Pregnancy is associated with a 4-fold increased risk of developing venous thromboembolism (VTE) and this risk still increases to 14-fold during puerperium. A correlation between the metabolic syndrome and development of cardiovascular events and cerebrovascular incidents has been descri Read More

Objective: Hypertensive disorders in pregnancy remain a major cause of maternal morbidity and mortality. Blood pressure control is essential for maternal and neonatal outcome. Therefore, we analyzed the potency and side effects of two treatment options (nicardipine compared to labetalol) in order to gain insight in improved treatment of severe hypertension during pregnancy and to evaluate the feasibility of a randomised c Read More

Metformin, an insulin-sensitizing drug commonly used to treat Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM), has been increasingly used off-label for the treatment of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which affects at least 5-10% of reproductive- age women. With very little risk associated with its use, metformin provides many important benefits to women with PCOS, including regulating menstrual cycles, improving clinical signs of Read More

This review presents available evidence for possible application of n-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in pregnant obese women with metabolic syndrome (MS) and focuses on prophylaxis of pregnancy complications associated with MS such as gestational hypertension, preeclampsia and gestational diabetes. Dietary supplementation with n-3 PUFAs has recently become popular and their adequate intake Read More

The clinical recognition and adequate treatment of women with hyperglycemia during pregnancy is significant in order to reduce neonatal complications correlated with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). The traditional management of pregnant patients with GDM in whom diet restriction is not sufficient enough involves subcutaneous insulin administration. However, insulin therapy has several disadvantages. It is Read More