Breastfeeding helps prevent diabetes in new mums
South Korean researchers have found that lactation can lower the incidence and reduce the risk of maternal postpartum diabetes, identifying that lactation increases the mass and function of pancreatic beta cells through serotonin production. The team suggested that sustained improvements in pancreatic beta cells, which can last for years even after the cessation of lactation, improve mothers’ metabolic health in addition to providing health benefits for infants.
Pregnancy imposes a substantial metabolic burden on women through weight gain and increased insulin resistance. Various other factors, including a history of gestational diabetes, maternal age and obesity, further affect women’s risk of progressing to diabetes after delivery, and the risk of postpartum diabetes increases more in women who have had gestational diabetes and/or repeated deliveries.
Since diabetes can pose a serious threat to mothers’ metabolic health, the management of maternal metabolic risk factors is important, especially in the peripartum period. Previous epidemiological studies have reported that lactation reduces the risk of postpartum diabetes, but the new study reveals the biology underpinning this observation on the beneficial effects of lactation.
Professor Hail Kim from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) led and jointly conducted the study in conjunction with researchers from the Seoul National University Bundang Hospital (SNUBH) and Chungnam National University (CNU) in Korea, and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) in the US. It has been published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
The team observed that the milk-secreting hormone in lactating mothers, prolactin, not only promotes milk production but also plays a major role in stimulating insulin-secreting pancreatic beta cells that regulate blood glucose in the body. They also found that serotonin, a chemical that contributes to wellbeing and happiness, is produced in pancreatic beta cells during lactation. Serotonin in pancreatic beta cells acts as an antioxidant and reduces oxidative stress, making mothers’ beta cells healthier. Serotonin also induces the proliferation of beta cells, thereby increasing the beta cell mass and helping maintain proper glucose levels.
The team conducted follow-up examinations on a total of 174 postpartum women — 85 lactated and 99 non-lactated — at two months postpartum and annually thereafter for at least three years. The results demonstrated that mothers who had undergone lactation improved pancreatic beta cell mass and function, and showed improved glucose homeostasis with approximately 20 mg/dL lower glucose levels, thereby reducing the risk of postpartum diabetes in women. This beneficial effect was maintained after the cessation of lactation, for more than three years after delivery.
Prof Kim said, “We are happy to prove that lactation benefits female metabolic health by improving beta cell mass and function as well as glycaemic control.
“Our future studies on the modulation of the molecular serotonergic pathway in accordance with the management of maternal metabolic risk factors may lead to new therapeutics to help prevent mothers from developing metabolic disorders.”
Please follow us and share on Twitter and Facebook. You can also subscribe for FREE to our weekly newsletters and bimonthly magazine.
Stem cell experiments conducted in space
Scientists are one step closer to manufacturing stem cells in space — which could speed up...
Plug-and-play test evaluates T cell immunotherapy effectiveness
The plug-and-play test enables real-time monitoring of T cells that have been engineered to fight...
Common heart medicine may be causing depression
Beta blockers are unlikely to be needed for heart attack patients who have a normal pumping...
