CHLA researchers learn hormone in womb may boost later type 2 diabetes risk

Researchers have zeroed in on a hormone secreted by fat cells as a possible factor in the development of  type 2 diabetes, particularly in the children of obese mothers, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles reported Thursday.

Researchers at the hospital’s Saban Research Institute found that the presence of the hormone leptin inhibits the prenatal development of neuronal connections between the brain and pancreas.

For the study, scientists injected leptin directly into the brain of mouse embryos during mid-gestation, resulting in a reduction in connectivity between the brain stem and pancreas.

“This breakdown in communication from the brain to the pancreas resulted in impaired glucose regulation” in adult mice, said Sebastien G. Bouret, a researcher in the developmental neuroscience program at CHLA.

“Because babies of obese moms have high levels of leptin, it might put them at a higher risk for type 2 diabetes and obesity,” according to Bouret, who is also an associate professor of pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine at USC.

The results were published online Thursday by the journal Cell Reports in advance of print publication on April 5.

—City News Service