Maternal circulating levels of some metabolic syndrome biomarkers in gestational diabetes mellitus

The aims of the present study were to explore serum levels of lipid profile, atherogenic indexes LDL-C/HDL-C, TG/HDL-C, and TC/HDL-C, bilirubin, adiponectin, pseudocholinesterase, activities of gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT), adenosine deaminase (ADA), and alpha-amylase, insulin resistance using homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) formula, and assessment of correlations between them in gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) compared with normal pregnancy. A cross-sectional study was designed. The patients consisted of 30 women with GDM. The normal group consisted of 30 healthy pregnant women. The Mann-Whitney U test and Spearman's correlation analysis were used for statistical analysis. A p value less than 0.05 was considered significant. Serum activities of enzymes GGT (p = 0.001) and ADA (p = 0.02) were significantly higher in GDM compared with normal pregnancy, while pseudocholinesterase were significantly decreased (p = 0.02). However, activity of enzyme alpha-amylase did not show significant difference between two groups (p = 0.75). Serum levels of both HDL-C and adiponectin were significantly decreased in GDM group (p = 0.001). The atherogenic indexes and the HOMA-IR index were significantly higher in GDM (p = 0.001). Serum activity of ADA showed positive correlation with total cholesterol (TC) (r = 0.46, p = 0.01) and CRP (r = 0.66, p = 0.001) in GDM group. Serum levels of total bilirubin correlated negatively with both ADA (r = -0.38, p = 0.04) and triglyceride (r = -0.45, p = 0.01) in women with GDM. Serum activity of GGT correlated positively with LDL-C (r = 0.48, p = 0.01) and TC (r = 0.52, p = 0.003) in GDM group. Increased atherogenic indexes, ADA, GGT, and decreased pseudocholinesterase might be risk factors for GDM.