Serum growth differentiation factor 15 is closely associated with metabolic abnormalities in Chinese pregnant women.

AIMS: To explore the relationship between serum growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) and metabolic abnormalities in Chinese pregnant women. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We recruited 200 patients with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and 211 matched normal control within 24-28 weeks of pregnancy. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to determine the serum GDF15 levels of all participants. Then we grouped participants according to the number of metabolic abnormalities (including blood glucose, blood lipids and blood pressure), divided them into a normal metabolic group, one metabolic abnormality group, two or more metabolic abnormalities group. Finally, multinomial logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the odds radio (OR) and 95% CIs expressing the association between GDF15 and metabolic abnormalities in pregnant women. RESULTS: Through bivariate correlation analysis, we found that serum GDF15 is linearly correlated with glucose metabolism indices, such as 1h-PG, 2h-PG, HbA1c (all P < 0.05). In addition, serum GDF15 and triglycerides were linearly correlated (P < 0.05). Grouping by the number of metabolic abnormalities, we found that as GDF15 levels increased, the risk of metabolic abnormalities also increased (OR > 1), and the risk of multiple metabolic abnormalities was higher. As the number of metabolic abnormalities increased, serum GDF15 levels also were elevated (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that serum GDF15 levels are closely associated with metabolic abnormalities in pregnant women and may be used as a predictor of metabolic abnormalities during pregnancy.