Metformin and Pregnancy: A Closer Look at Placental Health in Diabetes

Gestational diabetes can cause big problems for the placenta, like making it too big and causing issues with blood vessels and stress from oxygen shortage. Scientists wanted to see if a drug called metformin could help fix these problems. They used rats to test this, grouping them into four groups: healthy, metformin-treated, diabetic (GDM), and diabetic with metformin. GDM was given to the rats using a chemical called streptozotocin. Metformin was given to some rats from the 4th day of pregnancy until the 17th day. Researchers checked blood sugar and insulin levels, and calculated a number called HOMA-IR. They also looked at the placentas under a microscope and measured important markers for blood vessel health and oxygen stress. The placentas of diabetic rats were bigger and had more blood vessel growth and oxygen stress. Metformin helped reduce the size of the placenta and fixed some of the blood vessel and oxygen stress issues. This study shows that metformin might be helpful in keeping the placenta healthy during diabetes in pregnancy, but more long-term research is needed.