Funding outcome

Children of diabetic mothers (CDMs) have been shown to have an increased risk of heart and blood vessel ( cardiovascular disease, CVD) as adults. Maternal diabetes has been associated with the development of heart defects, heart muscle thickening, and reduced function in the fetus before birth. Very little is known about the factors that contribute to these abnormalities and how CVD progresses in CD Ms. Dr. Hornberger's team has previously shown that the thickened heart muscle persists in late infancy. They also found that mothers with worse blood sugar levels during pregnancy had infants with a stiffer aorta, a major artery of the heart, and a potential risk factor for development of CVD. Recently, the team has shown in a smaller group of the same children that the thickened heart muscle and stiff aorta persist even in early childhood. The next step in establishing the evolution of CVD in children is to investigate whether these changes persist into adolescence and to better characterize the evolution of blood vessel dysfunction and other factors that potentially contribute to altered heart health longterm. In the present study, we will bring in new CD Ms who are 10-14 years of age for assessments. This will include 30 CDMs and 30 children whose mothers were healthy. We will use noninvasive techniques such as blood pressure measurements and heart ultrasounds to assess heart function and structure, comparing findings between CD Ms and control groups. We will use a questionnaire to assess diet, lifestyle, and physical activity. We also use activity monitors for 1-2 weeks to gage the average level of activity and will correlate activity with heart/blood vessel health parameters. We will correlate our findings with maternal pregnancy history, birth weight and body mass. Studies linking maternal health in pregnancy with long-term CVD of exposed infants enhance our understanding of the evolution of CVD and provide opportunities to prevent CVD development.