Evaluating the diagnostic potential of gelsolin in gestational diabetes mellitus: A case-control study

To investigate the association between gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and blood levels of gelsolin (an inflammation-related protein thought to be reduced in type 2 diabetes mellitus) and to determine its role in potential diagnosis and neonatal outcomes.

This prospective case-control study was conducted at Ankara Etlik City Hospital between November 2023 and February 2024 with 40 pregnant women with GDM and 40 normoglycemic women. Pregnant women aged 18-40 years who were in their 24th to 28th week of pregnancy and had no known chronic disease were included in the present study and it was investigated as to whether there was a significant difference between the two groups in terms of gelsolin levels and neonatal outcome.

Gelsolin level was statistically significantly lower in the GDM group than in the control group (P = 0.004). In patients with fasting blood glucose <96 mg/dL, maternal serum gelsolin levels were associated with GDM, with a cut-off of 15.38 or less, showing a sensitivity of 73%, a specificity of 67%, and an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.703 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.576-0.810, P = 0.002). There was no difference between groups in terms of adverse obstetric outcomes, but gelsolin levels were associated with composite neonatal adverse outcome (macrosomia, Apgar score at 5 min less than 7, preterm birth, need for neonatal intensive care), with a cut-off value of 16.66 or less showing a sensitivity of 84.6%, specificity of 40.7% and AUC of 0.644 (95% CI 0.529-0.748, P = 0.031).

Gelsolin could potentially serve as a promising biomarker for the diagnosis of GDM.