Fetal pancreas size and maternal serum biomarkers glycated albumin and insulin-regulated aminopeptidase provide no potential for early prediction of gestational diabetes mellitus

Abstract

Purpose We aimed to determine the predictive values of fetal pancreas size and maternal serum biomarkers glycated albumin (GA) and insulin-regulated aminopeptidase (IRAP) for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Materials and methods In this prospective observational study including 109 pregnant women, the fetal pancreas size and maternal serum biomarkers GA and IRAP were measured at the gestational age of 20–22 weeks and later at the gestational age of 24–28 weeks, in 19 participants of them, GDM was confirmed with the 75-g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and the fetal pancreas size was measured in all the participants again. Results The median fetal pancreas sizes were significantly higher in women with or without GDM when measured at the 24–28 weeks of pregnancy compared to those at the 20–22 weeks of pregnancy ( p < 0.05). At both of the 20–22 and 24–28 weeks of pregnancy, the median values of fetal pancreas sizes in the women with or without GDM were found comparable ( p > 0.05). There were no significant differences between pregnant women with or without GDM regarding maternal serum biomarkers GA and IRAP ( p > 0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed no meaningful association of study parameters with the development of GDM. Conclusion The fetal pancreas size and maternal serum biomarkers GA and IRAP provide no potential for early prediction of GDM at the 20–22 weeks of gestation. Further studies, including serial measurement of these parameters during the second and third trimesters of GDM pregnancies, may clarify their role in the antenatal care of women with GDM. Clinical trials NCT05392231.

Development of a sandwich ELISA to detect circulating, soluble IRAP as a potential disease biomarker

“…Low levels of sIRAP expression at ~ 0.06 ng/ Vol:. ( 1234567890 www.nature.com/scientificreports/ ml and ~ 2 ng/ml were also reported in other studies in pregnant women between 20-22 and 25-35 weeks gestation, respectively 19,20 . However, since measurements in non-pregnant, healthy controls were missing in these studies and in all other studies examining circulating IRAP [21][22][23][24] , it is difficult to draw any conclusions on IRAP levels in healthy humans.…”

“…In the study by Trocme, et al 17 , the reported size of the recombinant sIRAP bands in their Western blots does not correspond to the known size of sIRAP (~ 150 kDa), appearing instead at as a 180 kDa band which does not represent full-length (165 kDa) or dimerised (> 250 kDa) IRAP. In the few other reported studies measuring circulating IRAP as a biomarker for pre-diabetes 18 , gestational diabetes 19 , preeclampsia 20 and prostate cancer 21 , commercially available ELISA kits were used, but no information was provided for the ELISAs on the region of IRAP the antibodies are directed against or validation of their specificity.…”