Diabetes mellitus (DM) is the main health problem in
Mexico, affecting 9.2% of the population.1 A successful
DM prevention program must take into account the
genetic factors, the environmental factors, and the epigenetic
mechanisms contributing to DM development.
How a certain individual acquires susceptibility to
DM and later becomes diabetic is a subject of ongoing
research interest.An individual’s phenotype is the result of
complex interactions between genotype and the current,
past, or evolutionary environments that cause, or caused,
epigenome remodeling with permanent effects. A very
interesting feature of developmental programming is evidence
that unfavorablefetal programming causes different
alterations and susceptibility to the illness in men and
women.2,3 A good example of the pathophysiological
mechanisms involved can be found in the diabetic mother
and child.A present research challenge is to investigate the
hormonal changes and carbohydrate metabolism occurring
during fetal development in a pregnancy complicated