Salivary Leptin and Chemerin; a novel way of gestational diabetes screening

Abstract

Introduction

Oral glucose tolerance testing (OGTT) is the recommended approach for the diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Leptin and chemerin are two examples of hormones from adipokine family, which mostly takes part in glucose metabolism and inflammatory processes. We aim to find a possible new and tolerable screening technique for GDM using salivary levels of leptin and chemerin.

Material and method

Saliva samples of pregnant patients, on their 24–28th weeks of gestation, are collected via saliva collection kit. Leptin and chemerin ELISA tests were run from serum samples being hold at -80 °C following their thawing session. Patients are divided into two groups depending on their GDM status. OGTT results of patients are compared with their ELISA results.

Results

ELISA study for leptin showed an insignificant difference between patients with GDM and patients without where the values were 0.44 ± 0.33 and 0.34 ± 0.24 respectively (p: 0.155). Chemerin study revealed a significant difference between patients with GDM and without 631.06 ± 344.42, 334.81 ± 244.91 respectively (p < .001).

Conclusion

Leptin and chemerin can be detected in saliva. Chemerin levels are significantly higher in patients with GDM, thus this knowledge can be used to develop a new screening method for OGTT.

摘要

前言：口服葡萄糖耐量试验(OGTT)是诊断妊娠期糖尿病(GDM)的推荐方法。瘦素和趋化素是脂肪因子家族中的两种激素, 主要参与糖代谢和炎症过程。我们的目标是利用唾液中瘦素和趋化素水平寻找一种可行的新型可耐受的妊娠期糖尿病筛查技术。材料和方法：通过唾液采集试剂盒采集妊娠24∼28周孕妇的唾液样本。保存在-80°C的血清标本解冻后, 进行瘦素和趋化蛋白酶联免疫吸附试验(ELISA)检测。根据患者的妊娠期糖尿病状况, 将患者分为两组。将患者的OGTT结果与其ELISA结果进行比较。结果：妊娠期糖尿病患者与非妊娠期糖尿病患者血清瘦素水平差异无统计学意义, 分别为0.44±0.33和0.34±0.24(p：0.155)。趋化素研究显示妊娠期糖尿病患者与非妊娠期糖尿病患者之间分别为631.06±344.42、334.81±244.91, 差异有统计学意义(P<0.001)。结论：唾液中可检测到瘦素和趋化素。妊娠期糖尿病患者的趋化素水平明显较高, 因此这一发现可以用来开发新的OGTT筛查方法。

Keywords:

• Leptin
• chemerin
• adipokine
• gestational diabetes
• OGTT

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Picture 1. Saliva collection tubes.