In plain words
GDF15 is a protein hormone. The placenta makes large amounts of it during pregnancy. It acts on a part of the brainstem that controls nausea and vomiting. Researchers link higher levels with more and with hyperemesis gravidarum. It may help explain why some people turn away from certain foods or smells. This is a biological explanation, not a cause a mother controls. Blood levels vary widely, and a single level does not tell a clinician how sick a person will be. Earlier theories blamed and estrogen. Newer research points more directly at the placenta's GDF15. It is still an active area of study.
The deeper version
GDF15 is a TGF-beta superfamily member whose circulating levels rise across early pregnancy. Its role in pregnancy nausea was long attributed to hCG and estrogen on correlational grounds. Fejzo and colleagues (Nature Communications, 2018) associated GDF15 and IGFBP7 with hyperemesis gravidarum in genetic and biomarker work. Work published in 2023 and 2024 substantially clarified the mechanism, identifying placental GDF15 acting on the brainstem, through the receptor, as the principal driver. The open questions concern how much of ordinary nausea and aversion is mediated this way, why individual levels differ so widely, and whether the pathway is a cause or a marker of severity. Clinical use of GDF15 levels is not established.
Where it comes up
- Nausea and vomiting in pregnancyPregnancy: Your Body
- Hyperemesis gravidarum: when sickness is severePregnancy: Your Body
- Cravings and food aversionsPregnancy: Eating
- Eating when nothing sounds goodPregnancy: Eating
What mothers here say about GDF15
No one has posted under this term yet.
Sources
- Fejzo MS and colleagues — Placenta and appetite genes GDF15 and IGFBP7 are associated with hyperemesis gravidarum. Nature Communications, 2018