Genetic and Epigenetic Alterations in Gestational Diabetes

Gestational Diabetes is glucose intolerance that are diagnosed or started for the first time in pregnancy. In pregnancies diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus, complication rates increase in mother and newborn. Many risk factors have been identified for GDM. These include anemia, advanced maternal age, high parity, GDM in previous gestation, or premature birth of macrosomic baby, short stature, obesity, multiple gestation, high blood pressure during pregnancy and family history of diabetes. The prevalence of GDM varies between different populations, with prevalence ranging from 7% to 17% in different populations. There is important role of genetic and epigenetic differences in variability of GDM prevalence between populations. Most of the genetic studies on GDM focus on biologically plausible candidate gene analyzes. Two different meta-analyzes involving a majority of these studies were performed, and these meta-analyzes revealed 8 genes associated with GDM. These genes are; TCF7L2, GCK, KCNJ11, KCNQ1, CDKAL1, IGF2BP2, MTNR1B and IRS1. All of these locations are also related to the T2DM risk. The majority of these genes, including GCK, KCNJ11, KCNQ1, MTNR1B, IGF2BP2, CDKAL1 and TCF7L2, encode proteins that are important for beta cell function or development. There is also evidence that epigenetic factors play an important role in the pathogenesis of GDM. In this article, genetic and epigenetic factors thought to play a role in the pathogenesis of GDM are presented