Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Mar 16, 2024; 12(8): 1395-1405
Published online Mar 16, 2024. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v12.i8.1395
Serum proteins differentially expressed in gestational diabetes mellitus assessed using isobaric tag for relative and absolute quantitation proteomics
Wei-Li Cao, Cui-Ping Yu, Ling-Li Zhang
Wei-Li Cao, Department of Women’s Health Care, Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Hubei Province, Wuhan 430070, Hubei Province, China
Cui-Ping Yu, Obstetrical Department, The First People’s Hospital of Jiangxia District Wuhan City (Union Jiangnan Hospital Huazhong University of Science and Technology), Wuhan 430200, Hubei Province, China
Ling-Li Zhang, Department of Gynecology, Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Hubei Province, Wuhan 430070, Hubei Province, China
Author contributions: Cao WL, Yu CP, and Zhang LL contributed to design the research, and new reagents/analytic tools; Cao WL analyzed the data and wrote the paper.
Institutional review board statement: This study was reviewed and approved by the Maternal and child health hospital of Hubei Province (Approval No. 20201025).
Informed consent statement: All study participants, or their legal guardian, provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declared no conflict of interest existing in this paper.
Data sharing statement: Data generated from this investigation are available upon reasonable quest from the corresponding author.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Ling-Li Zhang, MD, Associate Chief Physician, Department of Gynecology, Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Hubei Province, No. 745 Wuluo Road, Wuhan 430070, Hubei Province, China. zhang147852654@yeah.net
Received: December 1, 2023
Peer-review started: December 1, 2023
First decision: December 7, 2023
Revised: January 8, 2024
Accepted: February 18, 2024
Article in press: February 18, 2024
Published online: March 16, 2024
Processing time: 101 Days and 15.9 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

As a well-known fact to the public, gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) could bring serious risks for both pregnant women and infants. During this important investigation into the linkage between GDM patients and their altered expression in the serum, proteomics techniques were deployed to detect the differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) of in the serum of GDM patients to further explore its pathogenesis, and find out possible biomarkers to forecast GDM occurrence.

AIM

To investigation serum proteins differentially expressed in GDM were assessed using isobaric tag for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) proteomics and bioinformatics analyses.

METHODS

Subjects were divided into GDM and normal control groups according to the IADPSG diagnostic criteria. Serum samples were randomly selected from four cases in each group at 24-28 wk of gestation, and the blood samples were identified by applying iTRAQ technology combined with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Key proteins and signaling pathways associated with GDM were identified by bioinformatics analysis, and the expression of key proteins in serum from 12 wk to 16 wk of gestation was further verified using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

RESULTS

Forty-seven proteins were significantly differentially expressed by analyzing the serum samples between the GDM gravidas as well as the healthy ones. Among them, 31 proteins were found to be upregulated notably and the rest 16 proteins were downregulated remarkably. Bioinformatic data report revealed abnormal expression of proteins associated with lipid metabolism, coagulation cascade activation, complement system and inflammatory response in the GDM group. ELISA results showed that the contents of RBP4, as well as ANGPTL8, increased in the serum of GDM gravidas compared with the healthy ones, and this change was found to initiate from 12 wk to 16 wk of gestation.

CONCLUSION

GDM symptoms may involve abnormalities in lipid metabolism, coagulation cascade activation, complement system and inflammatory response. RBP4 and ANGPTL8 are expected to be early predictors of GDM.

Keywords: Gestational diabetes mellitus; Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry; Isobaric tag for relative and absolute quantitation; Proteomics; Biomarker

Core Tip: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) poses a great risk to mothers and infants. During this research, proteomics techniques were applied to investigate the differentially expressed proteins in the serum of the GDM patients to further explore its pathogenesis, and to search for potential biomarkers for disease forecast. Subjects were divided into GDM and normal control groups according to the IADPSG diagnostic criteria. Key proteins and signaling pathways associated with GDM were identified by bioinformatics analysis, and the expression of key proteins in serum from 12 wk to 16 wk of gestation was further verified using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.