Investigation of Serum Cardiotrophin-1 Concentrations in Pregnant Women with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus.

Objective: We aimed to investigate cardiotrophin-1 (CT-1) concentrations in the serum of pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).

Materials and methods: This prospective non-interventional cohort study was conducted with 160 pregnant women who applied to the Umraniye Training and Research Hospital, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology between October 2022 and May 2023. The GDM group was formed from 80 pregnant women who were diagnosed with GDM according to the 75-g OGTT. The control group consisted of 80 healthy pregnant women who were matched with the GDM group in terms of age and body mass index and had a normal 75-g OGTT result. Two groups were compared in terms of maternal serum CT-1 concentrations.

Results: Both groups were similar in terms of demographic features and the gestational week at blood sampling for CT-1 (p>0.05 for each). The mean maternal serum CT-1 concentration was found to be 1420.9 pg/ml in the GDM group, while it was determined as 1455 pg/ml in the control group (p=0.738). When the GDM and control groups were divided into two subgroups, normal weight and overweight according to the participants' BMI, serum CT-1 concentrations were found to be similar in these four groups (p=0.084). When the GDM group was divided into two groups of diet-only and the insulin-using group for blood glucose regulation and compared with the control group, the three groups were also similar in terms of serum CT-1 concentrations (p=0.189).

Conclusion: CT-1 is an adipokine involved in the regulation of glucose metabolism and has been suggested to be associated with the pathophysiology of diabetes mellitus. In this study, serum CT-1 concentrations were found to be similar in the group with GDM and the group with normal glucose tolerance. Whether CT-1 contributes to the development of GDM is currently unclear and requires further investigation.