Pre-gestational diabetes mellitus, gestational diabetes mellitus, and its association with the MTHFR C677T polymorphism

Abstract

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a common condition during pregnancy and is associated with an increased risk of pre-eclampsia. The methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene plays a crucial role in folate metabolism and has been implicated in GDM. To investigate the relationship between the MTHFR C677T gene polymorphism and the conditions of GDM and gestational prediabetes in pregnant women. A case-control study was conducted in 114 pregnant women with GDM and 96 pregnant women without GDM, from the first trimester to the prenatal examination at Can Tho Obstetrics Hospital. The pregnant women underwent a 1-hour (G1) and 2-hour (G2) oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and genetic polymorphism analysis based on real-time PCR technique. In pregnant women with GDM, weight, concentrations of G0, G1, G2, and folic acid were higher than those in the non-GDM group, with P < .05. When analyzing the subgroup without gestational diabetes, we found that the rate of prediabetes was 16.6% (16/96 pregnant women). In this group, blood glucose levels at 1 hour and 2 hours during the OGTT were higher compared to the normal glucose group (P < .05). A 2-hour post-OGTT glucose level of 7.78 mmol/L had a sensitivity of 93.8%, a specificity of 100%, and an area under the curve of 0.987 for diagnosing gestational prediabetes (P < .001). However, there were no statistically significant differences in the CC, CT, and TT polymorphisms of the MTHFR C677T gene among pregnant women with or without pre-gestational and GDM. Both fasting blood glucose and 2-hour glucose concentrations during the OGTT, as well as folic acid concentrations, were higher in both the pre-gestational and GDM groups compared to the non-gestational diabetes cohort. However, the analysis of MTHFR C677T polymorphisms revealed no statistically significant differences among the groups, highlighting the necessity for more extensive investigations to gain deeper insights into this relationship.