Children inherit diabetes from parents
Washington, Aug 21 : Kids and young adults, who become diabetic, should blame their
parents, for a new study has found that the condition is inherited.
Researchers suggest that unusual form of inheritance might play a role in the
increasing rates of diabetes, especially in children and young adults.
The research team is currently studying the metabolic programming, which occurs when an
insult during a critical period of development, either in the womb or soon after birth,
triggers permanent changes in metabolism.
In the present study conducted using a mouse model the team looked at the effects of a
diet high in saturated fat on mice and their offspring.
The results showed that a high-fat diet induced type 2 diabetes in the adult mice and
that this effect was reversed by stopping the diet.
However, if female mice continued a high-fat diet during pregnancy and/or suckling,
their offspring also had a greater frequency of diabetes development, even though the
offspring were given a moderate-fat diet.
These mice were then mated with healthy mice, and the next generation offspring
(grandchildren of the original high-fat fed generation) could develop diabetes as
well.
They found that exposing a fetal mouse to high levels of saturated fats can cause it
and its offspring to acquire diabetes, even if the mouse goes off the high-fat diet and
its young are never directly exposed.
The study will be published in the September issue of the Journal of Lipid Research.
--ANI
