"Optimal timing for RNA isolation: Recommendations for placenta sample collection under clinical conditions".

In placenta research, tissue quality is essential for following laboratory investigations. In clinical settings with deliveries as an unpredictable factor, delayed sampling or incorrect storage until sampling is a common problem. Therefore, we set out to define time points for different storage conditions where good tissue quality is still achievable.

Effectiveness of real-time continuous glucose monitoring to improve glycaemic control and pregnancy outcome in patients with gestational diabetes mellitus: a study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Introduction: Real-time continuous glucose monitoring (rt-CGM) informs users about current interstitial glucose levels and allows early detection of glycaemic excursions and timely adaptation by behavioural change or pharmacological intervention. Randomised controlled studies adequately powered to evaluate the impact of long-term application of rt-CGM systems on the reduction of adverse obstetric outcomes in women with gestational diabetes (GDM) are missing. We aim to assess differences in the proportion of large for gestational age newborns in women using rt-CGM as compared with women with self-monitored blood glucose (primary outcome).

Altered DNA methylation within exon 2 is associated with increased mRNA expression in visceral adipose tissue in gestational diabetes.

Overweight/obesity is the main risk factor for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). In our cohort of pregnant women with GDM, n = 19, and without, n = 22, we previously reported a significant increase in mRNA expression (+62%) in visceral adipose tissue (VAT) according to GDM, without altered promoter DNA-methylation. Here, we examined methylation status of additional exon 2 regions in VAT and maternal blood.

Maternal but Not Paternal High-Fat Diet (HFD) Exposure at Conception Predisposes for 'Diabesity' in Offspring Generations.

While environmental epigenetics mainly focuses on xenobiotic endocrine disruptors, dietary composition might be one of the most important environmental exposures for epigenetic modifications, perhaps even for offspring generations. We performed a large-scale rat study on key phenotypic consequences from parental (F0) high-caloric, high-fat diet (HFD) food intake, precisely and specifically at mating/conception, focusing on 'diabesity' risk in first- (F1) and second- (F2) generation offspring of both sexes. F0 rats (maternal or paternal, respectively) received HFD overfeeding, starting six weeks prior to mating with normally fed control rats.