GDF15, a hormone found in low levels in the body but produced at high levels in the placenta during pregnancy, is the cause of morning sickness, a study published this month by the University of Southern California and the University of Cambridge confirmed. Getty Images
Pregnant women know to expect morning sickness, a debilitating side effect that can affect 80% of pregnant women. But scientists are so far unsure as to why this dire situation occurs.
GDF15, a hormone present at low levels in the body but produced at high levels in the placenta during pregnancy, is indeed the cause of morning sickness, a new study from the University of Southern California and the University of Cambridge announced Wednesday. It was done. , Confirmed.
Not all women respond strongly to this hormone. So while some women emerge relatively unscathed (about 20%), the most severe cases (hyperemesis gravidarum, also known as “HG”, about 2%) require hospitalization.
Researchers are considering several ways to tackle this problem. One is to lower hormone levels in pregnant women (this study provides the first evidence in human history that doing so is likely to be safe), and the other is to expose women to hormones before pregnancy. . After that, level up.
“We know that when women are exposed to higher levels of the GDF15 hormone during pregnancy, they get sick,” says Marlena, a clinical assistant professor of population and public health sciences at the Center for Genetic Epidemiology at the University of Southern California.・Fezizo and the paper’s lead author said: Research news release.
Genetic causes of morning sickness
Researchers have uncovered specific reasons why some pregnant women don’t develop HG or develop mild morning sickness. One of them is that patients with the hereditary disease beta thalassemia, a genetic blood disorder, have chronically elevated GDF15 levels and are therefore largely immune to this phenomenon.
One more thing: If a woman inherits a rare genetic mutation that causes chronically low levels of GDF15 throughout her body, but her baby does not, she will be exposed to more hormones than ever before. , more likely to cause morning sickness. But if her baby also develops this mutation, she probably won’t develop the symptoms.
“This interaction between mother and fetus helps explain for the first time why some women develop HG during part of their pregnancy, but not during part of their pregnancy,” Dr. Fezo said. They emphasized that additional research is needed to confirm the results.
Treatment for morning sickness is also underway
Fejzo’s team wanted to investigate whether metformin, an oral diabetes drug that increases GDF15 levels, could be used by women with a history of HG before they become pregnant to prepare them for the upcoming hormone surge. thinking.
They also hope to test additional classes of drugs already in clinical trials for cachexia (a metabolic disease that causes extreme weight loss) and nausea and vomiting in cancer patients. These drugs block GDF15 from binding to its receptors in the brain.
This study has special significance for Fejzo, who suffered from HG during pregnancy.
“Now that we understand the main causes of HG, I hope we are one step closer to developing effective treatments to prevent other mothers from experiencing what I and many other women have experienced. ” Fezzo said.
