Abstract
BackgroundGestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is associated with an elevated risk of adverse health outcomes such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) is increasingly used as a noninvasive marker for subclinical atherosclerosis. Whether there is a direct correlation between GDM and elevated cIMT is still controversial.MethodsPubMed, Embase and reference lists of relevant papers were reviewed. Studies assessing the relationship between GDM and cIMT were included. Weighted Mean Difference (WMD) of cIMT was calculated using random-effect models.ResultsFifteen studies with a total of 2247 subjects were included in our analysis, giving a pooled WMD of 0.05 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.03 –0.07). Furthermore, meta regression and subgroup analysis found that the association between GDM and larger cIMT already existed during pregnancy, and this relation was stronger in obese GDM patients.ConclusionsGDM in and after pregnancy is associated with subclinical atherosclerosis. Weight control may be helpful to prevent cardiovascular diseases for GDM patients.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2261-14-132) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is associated with an elevated risk of adverse health outcomes such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases
GDM women have an increased risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome years after pregnancy, offspring of GDM women have a higher risk for noncommunicable diseases and obesity rates [2]
We suspect whether there is a direct correlation between GDM and elevated Carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT)
Summary
Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is associated with an elevated risk of adverse health outcomes such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) is increasingly used as a noninvasive marker for subclinical atherosclerosis. Whether there is a direct correlation between GDM and elevated cIMT is still controversial. GDM women have an increased risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome years after pregnancy, offspring of GDM women have a higher risk for noncommunicable diseases and obesity rates [2]. CIMT is a noninvasive technique to dectect subclinical atherosclerosis [3], and is associated with multiple cardiovascular risk. We suspect whether there is a direct correlation between GDM and elevated cIMT. We conducted a metaanalysis to assess the correlation between GDM and cIMT
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