Neonatal exendin-4 prevents the development of diabetes in the intrauterine growth retarded rat

Uteroplacental insufficiency resulting in fetal growth retardation is a common complication of pregnancy and a significant cause of perinatal morbidity and mortality. Epidemiological studies show an increased incidence of type 2 diabetes in humans who were growth retarded at birth. The mechanisms by which an abnormal intrauter-ine milieu leads to the development of diabetes in adulthood are not known. Therefore, a rat model of uteroplacental insufficiency was developed; intrauter-ine growth-retarded (IUGR) rats develop diabetes with a phenotype similar to that observed in the human with type 2 diabetes. We show here that administration of a pancreatic -cell trophic factor, exendin-4 (Ex-4), dur-ing the prediabetic neonatal period dramatically pre-vents the development of diabetes in this model. Thi