Diabetic Pregnancy Impairs Function of Endothelial K+ Channels

While it is known that diabetic pregnant women are at significantly higher risk for developing preeclampsia, what are the mechanisms underlying this increasingly common pregnancy complication among diabetic women? In this podcast Editor in Chief Dr. Irving H. Zucker interviews lead author Natalia Gokina (University of Vermont College of Medicine) and content expert David X. Zhang (Medical College of Wisconsin) about the multi-faceted work by Gokina and colleagues, which takes both physiological and pharmacological approaches to investigating the role of two types of calcium-activated potassium channels in abnormalities in uterine blood flow in diabetes. How is downstream signaling impacted, such as ROS production and nitric oxide? Why was there no change in transcription nor protein expression of IKCa, despite reduction in IK currents? Listen and learn more.

Natalia I. Gokina, Adrian D. Bonev, Julie Phillips, Alexander P. Gokin, Kelsey Veilleux, Karen Oppenheimer, Gabriela Goloman Impairment of IKCa channels contributes to uteroplacental endothelial dysfunction in rat diabetic pregnancy Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, published August 15, 2015, DOI: 10.1152/ajpheart.00901.2014.