In a recent study published in BMC Medicine, researchers quantified the extent to which obstetric and neonatal factors mediated the relationship between three maternal metabolic conditions, presentational diabetes mellitus (PGDM), gestational diabetes (GDM), obesity, and neurodevelopmental conditions (NDCs) in children.
These conditions included autism, intellectual disability (ID), and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Background
Worldwide, cases of maternal PGDM, GDM, and obesity have increased in the past few decades, and concomitantly, the prevalence of different types of NDCs, especially ADHD and autism among children. However, understanding their etiologies is lacking, and strategies for their treatment and prevention are in the early developmental stages.
Prior studies have shown that children exposed to aberrant maternal metabolic conditions in utero are at an increased risk of developing NDCs wholly or partially due to shared genetic liabilities. However, other mechanisms are also likely to be at play.
The researchers identified potential mediators based on previous research and examined whether these influenced the relationship between maternal obesity and NDCs in children. Notably, these complications, e.g., preeclampsia and eclampsia, placental disorders, and gestational infections, arose during pregnancy, at the time of childbirth, or during the neonatal period.