Betatrophin Levels were Increased in Pregnant Women with or without Gestational Diabetes Mellitus and Associated with Beta Cell Function

Abstract

Níveis de betatrofina aumentados em grávidas com ou sem diabetes mellitus gestacional e associados à função das células beta AbstractPurpose betatrophin has been reported to boost β cell expansion in insulin resistant states. Pregnancy is a well-recognized physiological state of insulin resistance. Betatrophin levels in pregnant women and their relationships with metabolic variables remain to be elucidated. Methods A total of 49 pregnant women and 31 age-matched unpregnant women with normal glucose regulation (UP-NGR) were included. Among these subjects, according to results from 75 g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), 22 women were diagnosed as having gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Results Our study found that pregnant women, regardless of their glucose regulation status, had remarkably higher triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), fasting insulin (FINS), homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and homeostasis model assessment of β-cell function (HOMA-β). However, GDM patients had much lower HOMA-β compared with those of pregnant women with normal glucose regulation (P-NGR). Participants of the P-NGR group had almost 4 times higher levels of betatrophin than those of the UP-NGR group. Although betatrophin levels were lower in the GDM group than those of the P-NGR group, the difference did not reach statistical significance. Spearman correlation analysis showed that betatrophin levels were positively and significantly associated with total cholesterol, triglycerides, highdensity lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c), FINS and HOMA-β. However, adjustments of TC, TG and HDL-c eliminated the association between HOMA-β and betatrophin. Conclusions Pregnant women have significantly higher betatrophin levels in comparison to unpregnant women. Betatrophin levels are positively and significantly

Circulating Betatrophin Levels and Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Sensitivity analysis was performed to explore potential sources of heterogeneity and assess relevant changes on the combined results. As suggested in Figs 5 and 6, the estimates effects indicated relevant changes on the combined results by study removals and the study carried out by Huang et al [19] may contribute to the methodological heterogeneity, ranging the heterogeneity from 94% (P < 0.001) for inclusion to 52% (P = 0.050) for exclusion. After strict screening again, we found that the study did meet the inclusion criteria.…”

“…The characteristics of the studies included in the present meta-analysis were shown in Table 1. Of the 8 included studies, three were carried out in Turkey [13, 17, 20], two in China [18, 19], one in Austria [15], one in Poland [16] and one in German [14]. The sample size of these studies ranged from 21 to 97.…”

“…Three of the included studies involved in the GDM women with BMI < 28 kg/m 2 [14,20], and the rest five with BMI ≥ 28 kg/m 2 [13, 15–18]. Blood samples for betatrophin measurement were collected in the second [13, 17, 19, 20] or third [14–16, 18] trimester of gestation. Except for the study conducted in German that used the American Diabetes Association criteria to carry out GDM diagnosis, all studies used the criteria suggested by International Association for Diabetes in Pregnancy Study Group to diagnose GDM.…”

“…Taken together, current population-based studies indicated that circulating betatrophin levels could be a biomarker candidate of GDM. Conversely, Huang et al suggested that betatrophin levels were much lower in women with GDM than that in the corresponding controls, although the difference did not reach statistical significance [19]. However, the potential mechenisms are not clear because of the insufficient studies.…”

“…The scientific evidence linking betatrophin with T2DM or obesity is growing large, but data investigating the correlation between betatrophin status and GDM are controversial. In this regard, some studies reported that women with GDM showed higher concentrations of betatrophin compared to healthy pregnant women [13–18, 20], while Huang et al showed the contrary [19]. Whereas the potential causes of these conflicting results were poorly described.…”