Diabetes drug may help obese women conceive and have healthier children

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Many obese women have a hard time getting pregnant. When they do, often with the help of infertility treatments, they tend to have children who are prone to obesity themselves. Now, working in mice, researchers have identified a process in egg cells that may account for both of these problems. What’s more, a new diabetes drug—now in clinical trials—may offer a solution.

This is “a new idea about how obesity affects the quality of eggs,” says David Albertini, a reproductive scientist at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, who was not involved in the study.

Obesity doesn’t just impact a person’s lifestyle—it can also alter the way their cells work. High levels of fats and cholesterols can clog up a cell’s machinery and interfere with its ability to build fully functional proteins. More specifically, obesity stresses the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), where proteins are made and shuttled throughout the cell. This process, known as ER stress, can cause the cell to self-destruct and can occur in cells throughout the body, including the liver, pancreas, and brain.

http://news.sciencemag.org/biology/...se-women-conceive-and-have-healthier-children
 
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