Effect of oxidative stress on heme oxygenase-1 expression in patients with gestational diabetes mellitus

The anti-oxidative stress effect of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) expression is being increasingly studied. However, few studies regarding HO-1 have been conducted in patients with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). In the present study, HO-1 expression was compared in peripheral blood mononuclear cells at 24–28 weeks of pregnancy in patients with GDM and healthy females, to investigate the correlation between HO-1 and oxidative stress by calculation of MDA content in the peripheral blood serum (thiobarbituric acid method), tested ROS (flow cytometry method), HO-1mRNA (RT-PCR method), and HO-1 protein (western blotting method) of Mononuclear cells. The results show that the levels of serum malonaldehyde (MDA), reactive oxygen species (ROS), HO-1 mRNA and HO-1 protein expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells were higher in the GDM group than in the control group. Correlation analysis showed that the expression levels of HO-1 protein were positively correlated with the HO-1 mRNA expression levels (r=0.680; P=0.000), and the levels of ROS (r=0.572; P=0.000) and MDA (r=0.614; P=0.000). HO-1 mRNA expression levels were found to positively correlate with the levels of MDA (r=0.451; P=0.010) and fasting plasma glucose (FPG; r=0.337; P=0.039). Partial correlation analysis demonstrated that, after removing the effects of body mass index, FPG and 2-h plasma glucose, HO-1 protein expression levels were positively correlated with the levels of HO-1 mRNA expression (r=0.611; P=0.005), ROS (r=0.526; P=0.021) and MDA (r=0.519; P=0.015). These findings indicate that pregnant females with GDM may be protected against oxidative injury due to the induction of adaptive and compensatory expression of HO-1 to guard against oxidative stress induced by high glucose levels.