Monocyte profile in peripheral blood of gestational diabetes mellitus patients

Objective: Gestational diabetes Mellitus has been considered an inflammatory disease involving different cells and mediators in its development. The role of innate immune cells in GDM physiopathology remains unclear, therefore this study was conducted to assess monocyte profile in GDM patients. Design: This was a case-control study including 20 glucose-tolerant pregnant women (controls) and 18 GDM patients. Methods: Flow cytometry was used to assess peripheral blood monocytes subsets (classical, intermediate, non-classical), the expression of TLR4 and CCR2 chemokine receptor (CD192) and cytokines (TNFA, IL6, IL10) secretion by monocytes subsets. In addition, sCD14 serum levels were evaluated by ELISA. Results: We observed increased percentage of CD14(+) cells, decreased frequency of intermediate monocytes (CD14(+)CD16(+)), and lower percentage of circulating monocytes (classical, intermediate and non-classical) that express TLR4 in the diabetic group compared to controls. Soluble CD14(+) serum levels were higher in GDM patients compared to controls. There were no differences in the expression of the CCR2 chemokine receptor and cytokines (TNFA, IL6 and IL10) secretion between the studied groups. Conclusions: Our results demonstrated that GDM patients present impaired monocyte profile in the peripheral blood, suggesting that these cells are involved in GDM physiopathology.