A Study of Adenylate Kinase Locus 1 (Ak(1)) Genetic Polymorphism in Diabetic Pregnancy

BACKGROUND: Previous studies suggest that adenylate kinase locus 1 (Ak(1)) has an important role in the control of blood glucose level and in the glycation of structural and functional proteins in type 2 diabetes and in the balanced development of feto-placental unit in healthy puerperae (HP). In this study, an attempt was made to investigate the relationship of Ak(1) with maternal and neonatal parameters in puerperae with gestational diabetes (GDP) and with preexisting type 1 diabetes (T1DP). METHODS: This study was carried on 402 HP, 347 consecutive healthy newborns, 102 GDP and 111 T1DP with their newborn infants. Ak(1) phenotype was determined by starch gel electrophoresis. Chi-square test of independence was carried out by SPSS program. The analysis of three way contingency table was carried out by a loglinear model. Significant level was 0.05. RESULTS: In T1DP, the frequency of Ak(1)*2 allele was higher than in GDP and in HP. Serum glucose level was higher in T1DP than in GDP with higher values in carriers of Ak(1)*2 allele. Neonatal hypoglycemia was more frequent in T1DP than in GDP with a positive association with Ak(1)*2 allele. The correlation between birth weight (BW) and placental weight (PW) was lower in infants from T1DP than HP. In healthy puerperae the correlation is higher in Ak(1) 2-1 than in Ak(1)1 phenotype while in diabetic puerperae the pattern is reversed with lower values in Ak(1)2-1 than in Ak(1)1 phenotype. The lowest value of correlation is observed in infants from T1D mothers carrying the Ak(1)*2 allele. CONCLUSION: The data confirmed the involvement of Ak(1) in glucose metabolism and showed a disturbance of the balance between placental and fetal growth which was more marked in T1DP.