Progress of pregestational diabetes mellitus and congenital heart defects / 国际儿科学杂志

ABSTRACT

Pregestational diabetes mellitus may cause fetal heart defects,and it is considered to be an important non-genetic risk factors for congenital heart defects. However, the pathogenesis is unclear. Recent studies have shown that hyperglycemia, which acts as a primary teratogen in pregestational diabetes mellitus, may affect the endocardial cushion formation and neural crest cell development. Cardiac oxidative stress damage, increased myocardial cell apoptosis,increased synthesis of extracellular matrix, as well as the alteration of heart development-related genes expression are important pathogenic mechanism. In this paper, we review the progress in the effect and the pathogenesis of pregestational diabetes mellitus on heart development.