Association of metabolic syndrome with inflammatory mediators in women with previous gestational diabetes mellitus

BACKGROUND: An increased risk of metabolic syndrome (MS) has been observed among women with previous gestational diabetes mellitus (pGDM). Increased inflammatory markers such as C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin 6 (IL-6) usually accompany. We performed this survey to examine the relationship between pGDM and MS, CRP and IL-6. METHODS: 77 women with pGDM and 67 randomly sampled women free from GDM participated in this study, 2–3 years after index pregnancy. Laboratory and anthropometric measurements were performed. MS was defined according to ATP III criteria. Statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS 18. RESULTS: CRP were different between groups with and without pGDM [2.69 (2.86 mg/dl and 1.56 (1.39) mg/dl, respectively; p < 0.01]. The presence of each MS component by itself was associated with significantly higher CRP Levels, except for fasting blood glucose. In linear regression models, CRP and IL-6 were significantly associated with BMI (β =0. 25, 0.23; p < 0.01), waist circumference (β=0. 27, 0.05; p < 0.01) and HOMA-IR (β=0. 39, 0.39; p < 0.01). After adjustment for age and BMI the occurrence of pGDM in the group with both high CRP and MS was significantly associated with CRP level (OR= 5.11; CI=1.59-16.43; p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Since CRP and Il-6 were higher in women with both pGDM and MS it appears that the presence of pGDM with MS components have a synergistic effect on the elevation of serum levels of inflammatory markers which can be partly as a result of visceral obesity. Further long-term studies are necessary to confirm the relationship between CRP, IL-6 and MS in women with pGDM.