Abstract
BACKGROUND: The biomarkers associated with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) remain incompletely understood. This article is aimed at investigating whether inflammatory factors may contribute as risk factors for GDM. METHODS: The study included 160 adult patients with GDM, who were enrolled as the experimental group. Additionally, 280 healthy individuals from the same time period were selected as the control group. Cytokine expression levels were measured using a flow cytometer with fluorescence, while gene polymorphisms were analyzed through the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) technique. The cytokines examined included interleukin-1 (IL-1), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-10 (IL-10), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ). RESULTS: Significantly higher expression levels of IL-1, IL-6, IL-10, and TNF-α were detected in GDM patients (p < 0.05). Additionally, the study identified specific polymorphisms-IL-1β -511 C/T, IL-10 -1082 G/A, IL-6 -174 G/C, and TNF-α -308 G/A-that were significantly associated with an increased risk of GDM (p < 0.05). IL-6, TNF-α, and IL-1β levels significantly differed among genotypes of IL-6 -174 G/C, TNFA -308 G/A, and IL-1B -511 C/T, respectively (p < 0.01), with risk-associated alleles linked to higher cytokine expression. No significant differences were observed for IL-10 -1082 G/A or IFN-γ +874 A/T. These results suggest that select polymorphisms may regulate cytokine levels relevant to GDM inflammation. CONCLUSION: Elevated plasma levels of IL-1, IL-6, IL-10, and TNF-α have been observed in patients with GDM. Furthermore, polymorphisms such as IL-1β -511 C/T, IL-6 -174 G/C, IL-10 -1082 G/A, IFN-γ +874 A/T, and TNF-α -308 G/A show a strong correlation with an increased risk of GDM in the Han women from northern China (specifically, Hebei Province). Pregnant women with ACC haplotypes of IL-10 have a lower risk of GDM. Cytokine gene polymorphisms in IL-6, TNF-α, and IL-1B are associated with altered inflammatory profiles in GDM, suggesting a genetic contribution to disease-related immune dysregulation. Our study suggests that these factors hold potential as biomarkers for the diagnosis and clinical prognosis of GDM in Han women from northern China (Hebei Province).