Maternal genomic profile, gestational diabetes control, and Mediterranean diet to prevent low birth weight

Abstract

Summary: Low birth weight (LBW) is associated to poor health outcomes. Its causes include maternal lifestyle, obstetric factors, and fetal (epi)genetic abnormalities. This study aims to increase the knowledge regarding the genetic background of LBW by analyzing its association with a set of 110 maternal variants related to gestational diabetes mellitus, in the setting of a nutritional intervention with Mediterranean diet. The analysis follows a multifactorial approach, including maternal genetic information of 1,642 pregnant women, along with their anthropometric and metabolic characteristics. Binary logistic regression models provided 33 discovery variants associated with LBW that underwent a functional enrichment process to obtain a protein/gene interaction network and 126 enriched terms. Overall, our analysis proves that genetic variants form proximity clusters, grouped into subsets statistically associated with underlying biological processes or other maternal characteristics, which, on their part, allow early prevention of the eventual risk of LBW.

Keywords

• Clinical genetics
• Female reproductive endocrinology