Evaluation of soluble human leukocyte antigen-G in peripheral blood of pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus

BACKGROUND: Research says that diabetes may develop in over 10% of non-diabetic pregnant women. Diabetes which generally occurs late in second trimester and third trimester of pregnancy, it is called gestational diabetes. Overweight or suffering from obesity before pregnancy is type 2 diabetes risk factor. In most cases, diabetic symptoms disappear after delivery. HLA-G has an important role both in mother and fetus tolerance during pregnancy, it may also be effective in the protection of pancreatic islet cells. In this study, concentration of these molecules in pregnant women with gestational diabetes in comparison with normal pregnant women was investigated. METHODS: In this case-control study, we measured serum HLA-G levels in 24 pregnant women with gestational diabetes compared with 30 normal pregnant women using sandwich ELISA. RESULTS: HLA-G levels were significantly low in pregnant women with gestational diabetes in contrast to normal pregnant women (P=0.001). CONCLUSION: In this study, we found that HLA-G levels were reduced in women with gestational diabetes compared with control group. Therefore, it is suggested that measurement of HLA-G in pregnant women can be considered as an indicator in prognosis of gestational diabetes.