Recent research published by an international team that included Marlena Fejzo, Ph.D., Clinical Assistant Professor of Population and Public Health Sciences in the Center for Genetic Epidemiology at the University of Southern California, and Sir Stephen O’Rahilly, M.D. FRS FMedSci, Professor of Clinical Biochemistry and Medicine at the University of Cambridge, found that GDF15 levels increase steadily in early pregnancy and are higher in women who experience nausea and vomiting in pregnancy and hyperemesis. The research uncovered that women with GDF15 genetic variants associated with lower levels of GDF15 in a non-pregnant state are predisposed to hyperemesis.

Source: Fejzo et al. Nature Communications 2018