AHSG rs4918 Polymorphism poses a weak predisposition to insulin resistance during pregnancy

Objective: To identify the association between Fetuin-A levels and genetic polymorphism with gestational diabetes mellitus among pregnant women visiting a tertiary care centre. Methods: This cross-sectional case-control study was conducted at Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, from December 2015 to September 2016, and comprised pregnant women in their second trimester. Those with gestational diabetes mellitus were considered the cases while the rest acted as controls. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to quantify Fetuin-A levels while genotyping for alpha-2-Heremans-Schmid-glycoprotein rs4918 was performed using restriction fragment length polymorphism technique. Blood samples were collected and serum and deoxyribonucleic acid were extracted and stored at -80 degrees C. SPSS 21 was used to analyse the findings. Results: Of the 88 subjects, there were 44(50%) in each group. Serum Fetuin-A concentration was higher in cases compared to the controls (p < 0.01). The genotype data for the cases was 0.668 and for the controls 0.840 (p > 0.05). However, the G allele showed a weak risk or predisposition towards gestational diabetes mellitus (p=0.038). Conclusion: Increased Fetuin-A levels were found to be related to the occurrence of gestational diabetes mellitus, indicating that Fetuin-A possibly contributes towards insulin resistance.