Placental vascular endothelial growth factor expression in pregnancies complicated by type 1 diabetes

Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is still associated with increased risk of severe maternal and foetal complications but their pathomechanism remains unclear.

we investigated the possible role of placental vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and VEGF single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in foetal development in T1DM pregnancies. Sixty seven pregnant women with T1DM and singleton pregnancy were enrolled into the study. Results demonstrated higher expression of placental VEGF in women who delivered neonates with birth weight (NBW)>4000g. No such correlation was found in the overall T1DM group and in women who delivered appropriate for gestational age (AGA) and small for gestational age (SGA) newborns. We also demonstrated a significant correlation between 3(rd) trimester mean blood glucose, HbA1C and placental VEGF. No such correlation was found for the 1(st) and 2(nd) trimesters. Top placental VEGF expression and placental mass were found in women who delivered large for gestational age (LGA) newborns. We also found a statistically significant difference in homozygous and heterozygous frequency variants of VEGF SNPs in study groups. We conclude that the increased placental VEGF together with impaired metabolic control may have a role in stimulating foetal overgrowth in T1DM pregnancy.