The development of cyclic motility in fetuses of diabetic mothers

Abstract

The cyclic organization of spontaneous movement was studied longitudinally in 22 fetuses of diabetic mothers (FDMs) during the third trimester of gestation and quantified with spectral analysis. Cyclic motility at frequencies between .08 and 1.22 cycles/min was found in all fetuses, although it was temporarily absent in 12 of the 22 fetuses at some time between 25 and 38 weeks. While some parameters of cyclic motility changed little, the frequency of the dominant motility cycle doubled from .24 to .48 cycle/min between 28 and 36 weeks, and the relative strength of motility cycles in the band between .18 and 1.02 cycles/min decreased temporarily at 36 weeks. These developmental changes and the common absence of cyclic motility contrast sharply with previous findings in normal fetuses, and (except for its absence) are accounted for by a subgroup of FDMs whose mothers' blood glucose levels were least well controlled during the third trimester of gestation. The presence of cyclic motility in all FDMs provides further evidence that cyclic activation is a basic property of the developing central nervous system in the human, as it appears to be in other vertebrates. However, the differences between FDMs and normal fetuses suggest that the development of cyclic motility is sensitive to disturbances in the fetal metabolic environment.

Fetal cyclic motor activity in diabetic pregnancies: Sensitivity to maternal blood glucose

“…This result may help explain previous findings that early-thirdtrimester differences in CM between fetuses of diabetic mothers and normal fetuses disappear by the end of gestation (Robertson & Dierker, 1986) and remain absent after birth, even in neonates with clinical evidence of prenatal exposure to an abnormal metabolic environment (Robertson, 1988).…”

Infants of diabetic mothers: Late normalization of fetal cyclic motility persists after birth

“…However, the early effects of maternal diabetes on fetal CM (Robertson & Dierker, 1986), and particularly the link to measures of maternal hyperglycemia in the third trimester, remain to be explained. The normalization of CM by the perinatal period does not necessarily diminish the importance of those earlier differences for the following reasons: First, one of the early differences between FDMs and normal fetuses was in the rate of CM.…”

“…In addition, regardless of whether there was a significant peak in the movement spectrum, the proportion of movement variance in each data set due to cyclic fluctuations between .I8 and I .02 cycle/min was determined (the corresponding area under the spectrum). In previous studies (Robertson, 1982(Robertson, , 1985(Robertson, , 1987Robertson, et al, 1982;Robertson & Dierker, 1986), this primary band contained nearly all the dominant motility cycles.…”

Human cyclic motility: Fetal–Newborn continuities and newborn state differences

“…In previous studies (Robertson 1982(Robertson , 1985; Robertson et al, 1982;Robertson & Dierker, 1986), this frequency band (subsequently referred to as the primary band) contained nearly all the dominant motility cycles. Since the spectra were computed from the autocorrelation functions, the proportion of variance in the primary band was the corresponding area under the spectrum.…”