News

No increased risk of diabetes type 1 for children of women treated with betamethasone during pregnancy

- Research

The Immunology of Diabetes group have published a study evaluating the effect of prenatal exposure to betamethasone on the risk of developing diabetes type 1 in the Journal of Diabetes Research. Environmental factors are crucial for the development of the disease and the prenatal period is of particular interest given the great number of changes taking place during this phase. In this respect the group investigated the frequently administered drug betamethasone, a synthetic glucocortoid that induces full development of the lungs in foetuses in the case of risk of premature birth.

This preliminary study was carried out with the Paediatric Service at the Germans Trias I Pujol Hospital, together with the DiabetesCero Foundation To obtain data for the study more than 450 questionnaires were completed by mothers and fathers of children with diabetes type 1 and it was discovered that betamethasone does not increase the risk of developing the disease and in fact it could even reduce susceptibility to developing it. This study highlights the importance of the prenatal period in diabetes type 1 and prepares the way for studies of the effects of betamethasone in much larger cohorts of patients.

Original Article

Journal of Diabetes Research, Volume 2022 'Article ID 6598600 ' https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/6598600

David Perna-Barrull, Marta Murillo, Nati Real, Laia Gomez-Muñoz, Silvia Rodriguez-Fernandez, Joan Bel, Manel Puig-Domingo, Marta Vives-Pi, "Prenatal Betamethasone Exposure and its Impact on Pediatric Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus: A Preliminary Study in a Spanish Cohort", Journal of Diabetes Research, vol. 2022, Article ID 6598600, 8 pages, 2022.
Prenatal Betamethasone Exposure and its Impact on Pediatric Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus: A Preliminary Study in a Spanish Cohort