Omentin-1 and its relationship with inflammatory factors in maternal plasma and visceral adipose tissue of women with gestational diabetes mellitus

Purpose To investigate the association of omentin-1 and inflammatory factors in serum and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) of women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) compared to normal pregnant (NP) subjects. Furthermore, to examine their correlation with maternal clinical characteristics. Methods We compared 116 GDM women to 115 NP women, at the time of cesarean section. Circulating omentin-1 and pro-inflammatory (IL-1 beta, IL-6, TNF-alpha), and anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1RA, IL-10) were examined. Moreover, their mRNA expression in VAT, along with inflammatory factors involved in the NF-kappa B pathway (TLR2, TLR4, NF-kappa B, IK kappa B), were examined. Results Circulating omentin-1 (p = 0.022) was lower and circulating IL-1-beta, IL-1RA, as well as IL-10 (p = 0.005, p = 0.007, and p = 0.015, respectively), were higher in GDM compared to NP women. Omentin-1 correlated negatively with pre-pregnancy and gestational BMI, and HOMA-IR in all women, but was not associated with cytokines. TLR2, TLR4, IL-1 beta, IL-1RA, IL-6, IL-10 mRNA expression in VAT was lower in GDM compared with controls (p < 0.05 all). In multivariate analysis, BMI at delivery was significantly correlated to omentin-1 concentrations in all and NP subjects. In addition, omentin-1 expression was correlated to inflammatory gene expression in all, GDM and NP, women (p < 0.05 all). Conclusion Serum levels and VAT gene expression of omentin-1 are not independently linked to GDM; notwithstanding, GDM women have a VAT-altered inflammatory status. In addition, no systemic association between omentin-1 and inflammatory factors was found, whereas associations between their expression in all women were observed, indicating that expression of these adipokines is linked between them regardless of GDM.

Automated summary

The study found associations between omentin-1 and inflammatory factors in serum and visceral adipose tissue of women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), but these are not independently linked, indicating altered inflammatory status in the VAT of GDM women. Additionally, omentin-1 expression was correlated with inflammatory gene expression in all women, regardless of GDM, suggesting a common link between these adipokines.