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
. 2024 May 10:15:1333755.
doi: 10.3389/fendo.2024.1333755. eCollection 2024.

Association between maternal and fetal inflammatory biomarkers and offspring weight and BMI during the first year of life in pregnancies with GDM: MySweetheart study

Maria-Christina Antoniou #  1 , Dan Yedu Quansah #  2 , Leah Gilbert  2   3 , Amar Arhab  2 , Sybille Schenk  2 , Alain Lacroix  2   4 , Bobby Stuijfzand  2 , Antje Horsch  4   5 , Jardena Jacqueline Puder  2
Affiliations

Association between maternal and fetal inflammatory biomarkers and offspring weight and BMI during the first year of life in pregnancies with GDM: MySweetheart study

Maria-Christina Antoniou et al. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). .

Abstract

Background: Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) is frequently associated with chronic, low-grade inflammation. Whether this environment affects offspring anthropometry during early childhood remains to be elucidated. The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between maternal and fetal (cord blood-umbilical artery) inflammatory biomarkers and offspring weight and BMI up to 1 year in pregnancies with GDM.

Methods: In this prospective secondary analysis of the MySweetheart study, we included 193 women with GDM and their offspring. Maternal and fetal (N=39) predictors included serum levels of inflammatory biomarkers including CRP, IL-6, and TNF-α at 24-32 weeks of gestational age (GA) and in the cord blood. Offspring outcomes were small and large for gestational age (SGA, LGA), sex- and age-adjusted weight, and BMI at birth and at 1 year. Univariate and multivariate regression models were performed. Associations were adjusted for maternal pre-pregnancy BMI, age, and ethnicity.

Results: Mean maternal age was 33.6 ± 4.8 years, and pre-pregnancy BMI 25.9 ± 5.6 kg/m2. Their mean gestational age at the 1st GDM visit was 29 ± 2.4 weeks. Gestational age at delivery was 39.7 ± 1.1 weeks, with a mean birthweight of 3.4 ± 0.46 kg; 11.8% of offspring were LGA and 10.8% were SGA. At 1 year of age, mean offspring weight was 9.8 ± 1.2 kg and BMI z-score 0.23 ± 1.1 kg/m2. In the models including only maternal predictors, TNF-α at 24-32 weeks of GA was positively associated with SGA and inversely with offspring weight and BMI at birth and at 1 year (p ≤0.034). In the models including only fetal predictors and the combined model, CRP was inversely associated with BMI at 1 year (p ≤0.020).

Conclusions: In women with GDM, maternal and fetal inflammatory biomarkers distinctively influenced offspring anthropometry during the first year of life, independent of maternal age, prepregnancy BMI and ethnicity. These results suggest that low-grade inflammation during pregnancy may affect the developing offspring by leading to a decrease in weight and BMI and may have implications for future personalized follow-up of women with GDM and their offspring.

Keywords: cord blood CRP; gestational diabetes; maternal pro-inflammatory cytokines; offspring anthropometry; perinatal inflammation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. This study is funded by a project grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF 32003B_176119) and by an unrestricted educational grant from Novo Nordisk and The Gottfried und Julia Bangerter-Rhyner-Stiftung Foundation. The funders were not involved in the study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, the writing of this article or the decision to submit it for publication.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Cozlea DL, Farcas DM, Nagy A, Keresztesi AA, Tifrea R, Cozlea L, et al. . The impact of C reactive protein on global cardiovascular risk on patients with coronary artery disease. Curr Health Sci J. (2013) 39:225–31. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Barzilay JI, Abraham L, Heckbert SR, Cushman M, Kuller LH, Resnick HE, et al. . The relation of markers of inflammation to the development of glucose disorders in the elderly: the Cardiovascular Health Study. Diabetes. (2001) 50:2384–9. doi: 10.2337/diabetes.50.10.2384 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Esposito K, Giugliano D. The metabolic syndrome and inflammation: association or causation? Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. (2004) 14:228–32. doi: 10.1016/S0939-4753(04)80048-6 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Gomez-Lopez N, Galaz J, Miller D, Farias-Jofre M, Liu Z, Arenas-Hernandez M, et al. . The immunobiology of preterm labor and birth: intra-amniotic inflammation or breakdown of maternal-fetal homeostasis. Reproduction. (2022) 164:R11–r45. doi: 10.1530/REP-22-0046 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Challis JR, Lockwood CJ, Myatt L, Norman JE, Strauss JF, Petraglia F. Inflammation and pregnancy. Reprod Sci. (2009) 16:206–15. doi: 10.1177/1933719108329095 - DOI - PubMed

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This study is funded by a project grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF 32003B_176119) and by an unrestricted educational grant from Novo Nordisk and The Gottfried und Julia Bangerter-Rhyner-Stiftung Foundation. M-CA’s research is also supported by an unrestricted grant by the Sophie Afenduli foundation and the Anna and André Livio-Glauser Foundation. The funding bodies did not take part in the design of the study, the collection, analysis, interpretation of data or in the writing of the manuscript.
-