The effects of vitamin and mineral supplementation on women with gestational diabetes mellitus

BACKGROUND: The effects of vitamin and mineral supplementation on women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) have not been well established. We conduct a meta-analysis to evaluate the effects of vitamin and mineral supplementation on glycemic control, inflammation and oxidative stress for women with GDM. METHODS: A systematic search of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was conducted from PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and Cochrane Library up to July, 2020. Various results were pooled by using Review manager 5.3 and Stata 12.0. Mean difference (MD) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was estimated. Heterogeneity between studies was assessed by I-squared (I(2)) tests. RESULTS: Six hundred ninety-eight patients from 12 trials were included in our meta-analysis. Magnesium, zinc, selenium, calcium, vitamin D and E (alone or in combination) were found to significantly improve glycemic control in women with GDM compared to those receiving placebos: fasting plasma glucose (FPG) (MD = - 9.02; 95% CI: - 12.09, - 5.96; P < 0.00001), serum insulin (MD = - 4.33; 95% CI: - 5.35, - 3.32; P < 0.00001), homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) (MD = - 1.34; 95% CI: - 1.60, - 1.07; P < 0.00001), and homeostasis model of assessment for β cell function (HOMA-B) (MD = - 15.58; 95% CI: - 23.70, - 7.46; P = 0.0002). Vitamin and mineral supplementation was found to attenuated inflammation and oxidative stress through decreasing high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) (MD = - 1.29; 95% CI: - 1.82, - 0.76; P < 0.00001), malondialdehyde (MDA) (MD = - 0.71; 95% CI: - 0.97, - 0.45; P < 0.00001), and increasing total antioxidant capacity (TAC) (MD = 45.55; 95% CI: 22.02, 69.08; P = 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis shows that vitamin and mineral supplementation significantly improved glycemic control, attenuated inflammation and oxidative stress in women with GDM. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12902-021-00712-x.