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Pregnancy hormones boost beta cells via serotonin

Nature Medicine volume 16, pages 756–757 (2010)Cite this article

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Pregnancy increases the demand for insulin by various tissues in the body, a condition that can lead to gestational diabetes. To shield against this condition, insulin-producing beta cells proliferate in a process now shown to involve the local production of serotonin in response to lactogenic hormones (pages 804–808).

Many metabolic changes occur during pregnancy, including an increase in the serum concentrations of lactogenic hormones, as well as insulin resistance, whereby insulin's effect on peripheral target tissues is impaired. To cope with insulin resistance, the pancreas increases the number of insulin-producing beta cells to augment insulin secretion1. Failure to respond in this manner can lead to gestational diabetes mellitus2.

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Figure 1: Insulin-producing beta cells expand during pregnancy through pathways involving lactogenic and serotonergic signaling.

Katie Vicari

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Senta Georgia is in the Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California, USA.,

    Senta Georgia

  2. Anil Bhushan is in the Departments of Medicine and Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of California–Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA.,

    Anil Bhushan

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  1. Senta Georgia
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  2. Anil Bhushan
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Correspondence to Anil Bhushan.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Georgia, S., Bhushan, A. Pregnancy hormones boost beta cells via serotonin. Nat Med 16, 756–757 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0710-756

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