During pregnancy, one of the symptoms that many women experience in the first trimester are the famous morning sickness. In some cases, this symptom can occur extremely, and although its cause was unknown, it was believed that all were caused by the rapid rise in human chorionic gonadotropin levels secreted by the placenta.
However, a new study shows that, in the case of severe nausea and vomiting would not be the hormones of pregnancy, but a couple of genes that cause them. We share your results.
Some time ago we told you about hyperemesis gravidarum, the disease that Kate Middleton suffers in her pregnancies, and that is characterized by causing severe nausea and vomiting during the first months of gestation. Until very recently, It was believed it was caused by the pregnancy hormone, but the results of this new study prove that it is not.
According to EurekAlert information, it is estimated that 2% of pregnant women experience this type of severe nausea and vomiting because of hyperemesis gravidarum, and that sometimes hospitalization is necessary, as happened with the Duchess of Cambridge during one of her previous pregnancies.
Now this new study, published on the Nature Communications website and conducted by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), has managed to identify two genes associated with this disease, called GDF15 and IGFBP. Both genes are involved in the development of the placenta, and have an important role in the early stages of pregnancy and appetite regulation.
It was also found that these two genes in particular are also associated with a disease called cachexia, a syndrome of muscle loss, weight and appetite. In the case of hyperemesis gravidarum, severe nausea and vomiting can cause dehydration, malnutrition and rapid weight loss that could affect mother and baby.
The authors of this research comment that previous studies have shown that This type of severe nausea and vomiting have occurred in women of the same family, so it could definitely be something genetic.
To arrive at the results that showed the relationship of the GDF15 and IGFBP genes with this disease, the DNA of pregnant women who did not have nausea or vomiting was compared with that of those suffering from gravory hyperemesis. They comment that in another separate study, the results of which were presented at the International Symposium on Gravory Hyperemesis, the proteins of these two genes were abnormally high in women suffering from this disease.
The researchers comment that the next step is analyze the possibility that the protein levels of both genes can be safely manipulated during pregnancy to mitigate severe nausea and vomiting, and so soon find a treatment that helps relieve this disease.
