Salivary Leptin and Chemerin; a novel way of gestational diabetes screening

Introduction: Oral glucose tolerance testing (OGTT) is the recommended approach for the diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Leptin and chemerin are two examples of hormones from adipokine family, which mostly takes part in glucose metabolism and inflammatory processes. We aim to find a possible new and tolerable screening technique for GDM using salivary levels of leptin and chemerin. Material and method: Saliva samples of pregnant patients, on their 24-28th weeks of gestation, are collected via saliva collection kit. Leptin and chemerin ELISA tests were run from serum samples being hold at -80 degrees C following their thawing session. Patients are divided into two groups depending on their GDM status. OGTT results of patients are compared with their ELISA results. Results: ELISA study for leptin showed an insignificant difference between patients with GDM and patients without where the values were 0.44 +/- 0.33 and 0.34 +/- 0.24 respectively (p: 0.155). Chemerin study revealed a significant difference between patients with GDM and without 631.06 +/- 344.42, 334.81 +/- 244.91 respectively (p < .001). Conclusion: Leptin and chemerin can be detected in saliva. Chemerin levels are significantly higher in patients with GDM, thus this knowledge can be used to develop a new screening method for OGTT.