Keeping in view the role of insulin and growth factors in the progression of GDM and macrosomia [17], we further studied, in the present report, the materno-foeto-placental axis by determining the concentrations of several growth factors both in GDM mothers and their macrosomic newborns, and by assessing the expression of mRNA encoding for growth factors (GH, IGF-I, FGF-2, PDGF-B and EGF) and their receptors in the placentas of normal and GDM mothers. The gene discussed is FGF2; the disease is gestational diabetes.