Low birthweight and metabolic abnormalities in twins with increased susceptibility to Type 2 diabetes mellitus

Summary Aims To evaluate the role of environmental intra‐uterine factors in determining the birthweights of twins with increased susceptibility to diabetes and discordant for abnormal responses to the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and verify the possible association of within‐pair birthweight differences and metabolic abnormalities in adult life. Methods Forty‐six monozygotic (MZ) and 32 dizygotic (DZ) twins were enrolled; 13 MZ twins were discordant for impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and/or hyperinsulinaemia compared to their co‐twins. Results The 13 MZ discordant twins showed significantly lower birthweights than their normal co‐twins (P