Adipokines are not dysregulated in gestational diabetes mellitus but are affected by pregnancy status

Aims:

Adipokines have been identified as mediators linking fat mass with insulin resistance potentially contributing to impaired glucose homeostasis in pregnancy. The aim of the study is to determine whether circulating adipokines depend on gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) or are altered by pregnancy itself. Furthermore, we evaluate the relative importance of eight adipokines in the discrimination of GDM from pregnant controls.

Methods:

A panel of eight adipokines (i.e. adiponectin, adipocyte fatty acid-binding protein, chemerin, fibroblast growth factor 21, leptin, Pro-Enkephalin, progranulin, and Pro-Neurotensin) was quantified in serum in a cross-sectional cohort of 222 women with the following three groups matched for age and body mass index: (i) 74 pregnant women with GDM; (ii) 74 pregnant and healthy women; and (iii) 74 non-pregnant and healthy women. A stepwise statistical approach was used by performing pairwise comparisons, principal component analysis, logistic regression analysis, and partial least square discriminant analysis.

Results:

Six out of eight adipokines were dysregulated between pregnant and non-pregnant women. No adipokine was significantly different between GDM and non-GDM status during pregnancy. Five out of these six adipokines clustered in a PCA component representing pregnancy-induced effects. Insulin, chemerin, and leptin were most relevant in the discrimination of GDM as compared to healthy, pregnant controls.

Conclusions/interpretation:

Most of the adipokines investigated in the present study are affected by pregnancy status itself but not by GDM status questioning the relevance of adipokines in the pathogenesis of GDM. The adipokines chemerin and leptin could discriminate between the presence of GDM in pregnant women.