Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
In this EASD Early Career Academy webinar, Prof. Gernot Desoye (Medical University of Graz, Austria) discusses how the placenta - shaped by both maternal and foetal influences - plays a central role in determining pregnancy outcomes.
The placenta carries out a wide array of essential functions. It transfers oxygen and nutrients to the foetus and returns metabolic waste products to the mother. It regulates hormones and other signalling molecules that support maternal adaptation to pregnancy, metabolically processes maternal nutrients, and protects the foetus by maintaining an immunological barrier and detoxifying xenobiotics.
Prof. Desoye highlights how diabetes and obesity affect placental development and function, emphasising the crucial role of the glucose-insulin axis in pregnancy outcomes, as insulin is a key driver of foetal growth. Because placental growth precedes foetal growth, early disturbances, such as altered glucose–insulin dynamics, can have lasting consequences for the foetus. Later in pregnancy, however, the placenta increasingly adopts a protective role, prioritising support for the developing brain’s high oxygen demands.
#diabetes #diabetesresearch #pregnancy #obesity #webinar #pregnancycare
In this EASD Early Career Academy webinar, Prof. Gernot Desoye (Medical University of Graz, Austria) discusses how the placenta - shaped by both maternal and foetal influences - plays a central role in determining pregnancy outcomes.
The placenta carries out a wide array of essential functions. It transfers oxygen and nutrients to the foetus and returns metabolic waste products to the mother. It regulates hormones and other signalling molecules that support maternal adaptation to pregnancy, metabolically processes maternal nutrients, and protects the foetus by maintaining an immunological barrier and detoxifying xenobiotics.
Prof. Desoye highlights how diabetes and obesity affect placental development and function, emphasising the crucial role of the glucose-insulin axis in pregnancy outcomes, as insulin is a key driver of foetal growth. Because placental growth precedes foetal growth, early disturbances, such as altered glucose–insulin dynamics, can have lasting consequences for the foetus. Later in pregnancy, however, the placenta increasingly adopts a protective role, prioritising support for the developing brain’s high oxygen demands.
#diabetes #diabetesresearch #pregnancy #obesity #webinar #pregnancycare
