“This research could lead to new approaches to personalize care for pregnant people with diabetes”- Dr. Dylan Burger,Healthy blood vessels are important for a healthy pregnancy, and catching problems early can prevent complications for both the pregnant person and their baby. When a blood vessel is stressed, it sheds tiny particles into the blood called extracellular vesicles. One way to measure blood vessel health is to count these particles, but it wasn't clear if this method would work in pregnant people. 

A study published in Biomarker Research co-led by Drs. Dylan Burger and Denice Feig found that these extracellular vesicles may be able to predict newborn outcomes, at least in pregnant people with diabetes. The researchers analyzed blood plasma samples from 163 pregnant people with type 1 diabetes collected during a randomized controlled clinical trial. 

They found that the babies of people with high levels of extracellular vesicles early in pregnancy were twice as likely to be admitted to the NICU, and four times as likely to need ventilation. Larger studies are needed to confirm the findings.

“This research could lead to new approaches to personalize care for pregnant people with diabetes”- Dr. Dylan Burger, senior scientist at The Ottawa Hospital and associate professor at the University of Ottawa

Authors: Akram Abolbaghaei, Marc-André Langlois, Helen R Murphy, Denice S. Feig & Dylan Burger on behalf of the CONCEPTT Collaborative Group

Funding: Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Ontario Early Researcher Award, Canada Foundation for Innovation. All research at The Ottawa Hospital is also enabled by The Ottawa Hospital Foundation.

Core Resources: Flow Cytometry and Virometry

The Ottawa Hospital is a leading academic health, research and learning hospital proudly affiliated with the University of Ottawa.   

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