A proposal to optimize postprandial glycaemic control and prevent maternal and neonatal complications: timing of acute exercise and underlying mechanisms in healthy, obese and T1DM pregnant women

Hyperglycaemia during pregnancy is a major factor leading to adverse pregnancy complications, and future maternal and offspring diseases.

Growing diseases such as obesity and T1DM -hyperglycaemic states- increase this susceptibility to later disease; which can be transmitted to subsequent generations.

To find strategies aimed at breaking this intergenerational cycle, which is aggravating the disease burden of this and next generations, is a high-priority within the European Policy Framework.

Exercise has been recently proposed as a mean to better control short-term glycaemic responses such as postprandial glucose and glucose variability, and thus reduce adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes.

However, it remains unknown which timing of exercise is more effective to optimize postprandial glycaemic control in healthy and impaired metabolic conditions during pregnancy. The mechanisms underlying these benefits also remain to be established.

The MERIT project will investigate which timing of exercise (at lunch or dinnertime, and before or after the meal) is more effective to optimize postprandial glycaemic control in healthy, obese and T1DM women during pregnancy.

To obtain a mechanistic insight, the muscle molecular signature related to these metabolic responses will be explored, as well as the related muscle molecular changes induced by exercise.

This new knowledge on the muscle molecular signature, changes and functionality, will be generated by using last-generation technologies, and cutting-edge bioinformatics analyses.

Lastly, the role of the muscle molecular machinery and glycaemic excursions on placental phenotype, and the muscle-placenta crosstalk will be investigated, which further highlights the novelty of this project.Working under the supervision of Prof. van Poppel and Prof.

Desoye will boost the fellow´s scientific career development and professional maturation as an independent researcher, in addition to help him setting this pioneering field in Europe.