Pregnancy as a "stress test for life"-
A Longitudinal Extension of the STORK Cohort
The STORK project is a prospective cohort study following 1031 pregnant Norwegian women from week 12-14 until the first week post-partum, included at Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet. The participants (300 women) have been have been re-evaluated 5 years post-partum.
Investigating early development and mechanisms of gestational diabetes mellitus associated with later metabolic complications and cardiovascular disease may gain important information about women’s later health and increase chances to prevent further progression of these diseases.
To reach our goals we perform translational research, using our well-defined clinical cohort investigating blood samples, placenta biopsies and performing in-vitro studies exploring mechanistic functions and regulations.
News from 2022:
The STORK study contributed to show that
- the BMI-placenta weight association is non-linear and may involve leptin. Maternal early pregnancy insulin and fetal insulin at term were associated with placenta weight.
- multi-ancestry genome-wide association study of gestational diabetes mellitus highlights genetic links with type 2 diabetes
Publications 2022:
Contributed to the following relevant papers
-Kristiansen O, Roland MC, Zucknick M, Reine TM, Kolset SO, Henriksen T, Lekva T and Michelsen T. 2022. Maternal body mass index and placental weight: a role for fetal insulin, maternal insulin and leptin. Journal of Endocrinological Investigation 45: 2105–2121.
- Pervjakova N, Moen GH, Borges MC, Ferreira T, Cook JP, Allard C, et.al. 2022. Multi-ancestry genome-wide association study of gestational diabetes mellitus highlights genetic links with type 2 diabetes. Human Molecular Genetics 31: 3377–3391.