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. 2025 Apr 1;48(4):564-568.
doi: 10.2337/dc24-2056.

Longitudinal Associations of PFAS Exposure With Insulin Sensitivity and β-Cell Function Among Hispanic Women With a History of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus

Ni Kang  1 , Wu Chen  1 , Nosa Osazuwa  1 , Chenyu Qiu  1 , Julianne Cook Botelho  2 , Antonia M Calafat  2 , Dean Jones  3 , Thomas Buchanan  4 , Anny H Xiang  5 , Zhanghua Chen  1
Affiliations

Longitudinal Associations of PFAS Exposure With Insulin Sensitivity and β-Cell Function Among Hispanic Women With a History of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus

Ni Kang et al. Diabetes Care. .

Abstract

Objective: We investigated associations between per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and changes in diabetes indicators from pregnancy to 12 years after delivery among women with a history of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).

Research design and methods: Eighty Hispanic women with GDM history were followed from the third trimester of pregnancy to 12 years after delivery. Oral and intravenous glucose tolerance tests were conducted during follow-up. Plasma PFAS concentrations were measured at the third trimester of pregnancy and first postpartum visit. A linear mixed-effects model was used to analyze associations between PFAS and trajectories of diabetes indicators, adjusted for age, breastfeeding status, daily total calorie intake, and body fat percentage.

Results: Increased 2-(N-methyl-perfluorooctane sulfonamido) acetate level was associated with faster increase in concentrations of fasting glucose (P = 0.003). Increased perfluorononanoate (PFNA) and linear perfluorooctanoate (n-PFOA) concentrations were associated with faster increase in fasting insulin concentrations (P = 0.04 for PFNA; P = 0.02 for n-PFOA) and faster decrease in acute insulin response to glucose (P = 0.04 for PFNA; P = 0.02 for n-PFOA).

Conclusions: PFAS exposure is associated with glucose intolerance, insulin resistance, and β-cell dysfunction, thus increasing type 2 diabetes risk.

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Conflict of interest statement

Duality of Interest. No potential conflicts of interest relevant to this article were reported.

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