Is the placental proteome impaired in well‐controlled gestational diabetes?

Abstract

In pregnancy complicated by gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), the human placenta shows several pathological functional and structural changes, but the extent to which maternal glycemic control contributes to placental abnormalities remains unclear. The aim of this study was to profile and compare the proteome of placentas from healthy pregnant women and those with GDM, to investigate the placenta‐specific protein composition and possible changes of its function in presence of GDM. Quantitative proteomic analysis, based on LC‐MSE approach, revealed that higher (approximately 15% increase) levels of galectin 1 and collagen alpha‐1 XIV chain (although the difference regarding the latter was at the limit of significance) were present in GDM samples, while heat shock 70 kDa protein 1A/1B was less abundant in GDM placental tissue. These data seem to indicate that GDM, when well controlled, did not markedly affect the placental proteome.

Genetics and Epigenetics: New Insight on Gestational Diabetes Mellitus

“…Proteomics (55) is an approach that uses mass spectrometry to identify any changes in protein expression due-in the case of interest here-to hyperglycemia and GDM. The method has been used mainly to study the placenta (56)(57)(58)(59)(60). It is well known that the placenta undergoes a number of structural and functional changes in diabetes because of the abnormal maternal milieu brought on by high glucose and insulin levels, which increase the production of inflammatory cytokines (56)(57)(58).…”

“…It is well known that the placenta undergoes a number of structural and functional changes in diabetes because of the abnormal maternal milieu brought on by high glucose and insulin levels, which increase the production of inflammatory cytokines (56)(57)(58). In this setting, applying different mass spectrometry approaches-such as MALDI-MS and LC-MS E -to the study of placental samples from women with and without GDM generated evidence to show that, if well controlled, GDM induces only minor changes in the placental proteome (59,60). The studies published until now show differences in the metabolic profiles of mothers with GDM with respect to pregnant non diabetic women.…”

Proteomic Approaches in the Study of Placenta of Pregnancy Complicated by Gestational Diabetes Mellitus

“…Differently to what was performed in previous investigations, based on the pooling of placenta samples, in a further study [ 20 ] each placenta sample obtained from healthy (12) and GDM (13) subjects was analyzed individually by means of the label-free LC-MS E method. This approach allowed us to identify 3776 peptides, corresponding to 160 proteins; statistical analysis allowed us to highlight higher levels of galectin 1 and collagen alpha-1 chain in the case of GDM samples, while heat shock protein 1A/1B was less abundant in the GDM placental tissue.…”

Epigenetic: New Insight in Gestational Diabetes Mellitus

“…The placenta undergoes a number of structural and functional changes in pregnant women affected by diabetes due to the increased production of inflammatory cytokines determined by the high levels of maternal glucose [27]. In this frame, utilizing different mass spectrometry approaches -such as MALDI-MS and LC-MS E -in the evaluation of placental samples women with and without GDM, it has been showed that if well controlled, GDM induces only minor changes in the placental proteome [28]. So it is of interest to verify if epigenetic modifications can however occur at the placental level even with relatively low maternal glucose levels and if the extent of these modifications is in some way related to glycemic levels (Tables 1 and 2).…”