Gestational diabetes & diabetes in pregnancy
Impact of Maternal Diabetes in Pregnancy on Newborn IgG Antibody Repertoire and Infection Risk in the First 6 Months of Life
Authors' conclusion
This study provides strong evidence of an increased infection risk in the infants of mothers with diabetes and a reduced IgG repertoire diversity in those of PDM mothers. Lower IgG diversity exacerbated the diabetes-infection link. These findings suggest that maternal metabolic conditions may impact an infant's passive immunity and susceptibility to infections.
Study context
- Population
- Mother-infant pairs enrolled at birth and followed longitudinally at the Boston Medical Center
- Participants
- 2,702 mother-infant pairs
- Exposure
- Maternal gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) or pregestational diabetes mellitus (PDM) vs no diabetes
- GDMn = 327
- PDMn = 138
- Outcome
- Infections in infants
- Follow-up
- First 6 months of life
Methodological detailslongitudinal
- Longitudinal
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Risk of infections in infants · first 6 months
Each group vs no diabetesRelative risk (95% CI)
GDM
1.20(1.09–1.32)
PDM
1.28(1.12–1.47)
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Infants with ≥1 infection (whole cohort)
- ≥1 infection in neonatal period
- 416 infants (15.4%)
- ≥1 infection in first 6 months of life
- 1,425 infants (52.7%)
Infection risk by subgroup
- Associations particularly pronounced among infants born preterm, delivered via cesarean section, or with lower IgG repertoire diversity
Newborn global IgG repertoire diversity (cord blood) · birth
- PDM associated with lower IgG repertoire diversity vs no diabetes; more marked with maternal prepregnancy overweight or obesity
Original publication
Impact of Maternal Diabetes in Pregnancy on Newborn IgG Antibody Repertoire and Infection Risk in the First 6 Months of Life. Diabetes Care. Published 12 January 2026. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →