Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Glycoprotein Acetyls (GlycA), is a marker of systemic inflammation, we have recently shown its association with pregnancy in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). This study aims to investigate the association between GlycA levels and the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and preeclampsia in the Born in Bradford (BiB) cohort.

Methods: The Born in Bradford study is a UK-based longitudinal birth cohort. We performed profiling of circulating lipids, fatty acids, and metabolites using a high-throughput targeted NMR platform (Nightingale Health, Helsinki, Finland), providing quantitative data on 227 metabolites. GlycA levels were compared between women with GDM and preeclampsia and those without these conditions using a t-test.

Results: The study included 10,608 women with a median age of 28 years (IQR: 25-31). The cohort comprised predominantly English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish, or British participants (37%), followed by Pakistani (40%), Indian (3%), and African (1%) ethnicities. Metabolomics analysis revealed that GlycA levels were significantly higher in women with gestational diabetes (mean 1.68 vs. 1.52, P < 0.0001) but not in those with preeclampsia.

Conclusion: Elevated GlycA levels are significantly associated with an increased risk of gestational diabetes in the Born in Bradford cohort but not with preeclampsia. These findings highlight the potential of GlycA as a biomarker for gestational diabetes and warrants further investigation for other complications during pregnancy.