Gestational diabetes mellitus and offspring’s carotid intima–media thickness at birth: MySweetHeart Cohort study

Objective Hyperglycaemia during pregnancy is associated with cardiometabolic risks for the mother and the offspring. Mothers with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) have signs of subclinical atherosclerosis, including increased carotid intima–media thickness (CIMT). We assessed whether GDM is assoc...

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Main Authors: Umberto Simeoni, Antje Horsch, Arnaud Chiolero, Yvan Vial, Nicole Sekarski, Jardena J Puder, Pascal Bovet, Stefano Di Bernardo, Yvan Mivelaz, Adina Mihaela Epure, Sandrine Estoppey Younes, Bobby Stuijfzand, Leah Gilbert, Stefano Lanzi, Justine Gross, Dan Quansah, Jean-Benoît Rossel, Amar Arhab, Seyda Mayerat
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2022-07-01
Series:BMJ Open
Online Access:https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/12/7/e061649.full
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Summary:Objective Hyperglycaemia during pregnancy is associated with cardiometabolic risks for the mother and the offspring. Mothers with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) have signs of subclinical atherosclerosis, including increased carotid intima–media thickness (CIMT). We assessed whether GDM is associated with increased CIMT in the offspring at birth.Design and setting MySweetHeart Cohort is a prospective cohort study conducted in Switzerland.Participants, exposure and outcome measures This work included pregnant women with and without GDM at 24–32 weeks of gestation and their singleton live-born offspring with data on the primary outcome of CIMT. GDM was diagnosed based on the criteria of the International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups. Offspring’s CIMT was measured by ultrasonography after birth (range 1–19 days).Results Data on CIMT were available for 99 offspring of women without GDM and 101 offspring of women with GDM. Maternal age ranged from 18 to 47 years. Some 16% of women with GDM and 6% of women without GDM were obese. Smoking during pregnancy was more frequent among women with GDM (18%) than among those without GDM (4%). Neonatal characteristics were comparable between the two groups. The difference in CIMT between offspring of women with and without GDM was of 0.00 mm (95% CI −0.01 to 0.01; p=0.96) and remained similar on adjustment for potential confounding factors, such as maternal prepregnancy body mass index, maternal education, smoking during pregnancy, family history of diabetes, as well as offspring’s sex, age, and body surface area (0.00 mm (95% CI −0.02 to 0.01; p=0.45)).Conclusions We found no evidence of increased CIMT in neonates exposed to GDM. A longer-term follow-up that includes additional vascular measures, such as endothelial function or arterial stiffness, may shed further light on the cardiovascular health trajectories in children born to mothers with GDM.Trial registration number NCT02872974; Pre-results.
ISSN:2044-6055