Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Jan;44(1):49-61.
doi: 10.1007/s40618-020-01262-0. Epub 2020 Apr 25.

Biological insight into the extracellular vesicles in women with and without gestational diabetes

M Franzago  1   2 , P Lanuti  1   2 , F Fraticelli  1   2 , M Marchioni  3 , D Buca  4 , M Di Nicola  3 , M Liberati  1 , S Miscia  1   2 , L Stuppia  2   5 , E Vitacolonna  6   7
Affiliations

Biological insight into the extracellular vesicles in women with and without gestational diabetes

M Franzago et al. J Endocrinol Invest. 2021 Jan.

Abstract

Purpose: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is the most common metabolic disorder in pregnancy, with increasing prevalence worldwide and still unclear pathogenic mechanisms. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are emerging as potential biomarkers of disease-specific pathways in metabolic disorders, but their potential role in GDM is not fully understood. Therefore, the main aim of this study was to evaluate the link between EVs and hyperglycaemia during pregnancy.

Methods: We assessed 50 GDM women and 50 controls at the third trimester of pregnancy in whom we collected demographic characteristics and clinical and anthropometric parameters. In addition, the circulating total EVs (tEVs) and their subpopulations were assessed using flow cytometry.

Results: The levels of tEVs and EVs subtypes, expressed as median and interquartile range, were not significantly different between two groups; however, adipocyte-derived EVs (aEVs) concentration, expressed as percentage, was higher in controls than in GDM women (p = 0.045). In addition, a significant correlation was observed between aEVs (%) and third trimester total cholesterol (p = 0.022) within the GDM group. Furthermore, a significant correlation between endothelial-derived EVs (eEVs) and platelet-derived EVs (pEVs) within both groups was found, as well as a significant relation between aEVs and pEVs.

Conclusions: These data, although preliminary, represent the starting point for further studies to determine the role of circulating EVs in GDM.

Keywords: Extracellular vesicles; Flow cytometry; Gestational diabetes; Gestational weight gain; Metabolism.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. American Diabetes Association (ADA) (2019) Standards of medical care in diabetes—2019. Diabetes Care 42(Suppl 1):S165–S172 - DOI
    1. Hod M, Kapur A, Sacks A et al (2015) The international Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) Initiative on gestational diabetes mellitus: a pragmatic guide for diagnosis, management, and care. Int J Gynecol Obstet 131(Suppl 3):S173–S211 - DOI
    1. Burlina S, Dalfra MG, Lapolla A (2018) Clinical and biochemical approach to predicting post-pregnancy metabolic decompensation. Diabetes Res Clin Pract 145:178–183 - DOI
    1. Franzago M, Fraticelli F, Stuppia L, Vitacolonna E (2019) Nutrigenetics, epigenetics and gestational diabetes: consequences in mother and child. Epigenetics 14(3):215–235. https://doi.org/10.1080/15592294.2019.1582277 - DOI - PubMed - PMC
    1. Hedderson MM, Gunderson EP, Ferrara A (2010) Gestational weight gain and risk of gestational diabetes mellitus. Obstet Gynecol 115(3):597–604 - DOI

LinkOut - more resources