New Research Indicates That Popular Diabetes Drug Could Impact Brain Development During Pregnancy

Research indicates that metformin, while beneficial for pregnant animals, might not positively affect their offspring, underscoring the complexity of managing gestational diabetes risks and the importance of pursuing preventive strategies.

As cases of gestational diabetes and metabolic disorders increase during pregnancy, the prescription of metformin has become more common. Despite understanding that this oral antidiabetic medication can pass through the placental barrier, its effects on a child’s brain development remain largely unclear. However, a cross-disciplinary team from the German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbrücke (DIfE) has recently shown in a mouse study that while metformin benefits pregnant animals, these positive effects do not extend to their offspring.

The results were published in the specialist journal Molecular Metabolism.

Current figures show that around one in six pregnant women worldwide are affected by a special form of diabetes known as gestational diabetes. According to the Robert Koch Institute, 63,000 women in Germany were affected by the disease in 2021, and the trend is increasing.
These numbers are alarming because excessively high blood sugar levels during pregnancy are associated with negative consequences for mother and child. This increases the risk of affected women developing type 2 diabetes later on and their children have a higher risk of developing metabolic disorders and being overweight.

Long-Term Effect of Metformin on Offspring is Unclear

For several years, the placenta-crossing oral antidiabetic agent metformin has been increasingly gaining importance as an alternative to Related