Maternal C-Peptide and Insulin Sensitivity, but Not BMI, Associate with Fatty Acids in the First Trimester of Pregnancy

Bandres-Meriz, Julia; Majali-Martinez, Alejandro; Hoch, Denise; Morante, Milagros; Glasner, Andreas; van Poppel, Mireille N. M.; Desoye, Gernot; Herrera, Emilio

doi:10.3390/ijms221910422

Submit to this Journal Review for this Journal Edit a Special Issue

Article Menu

...

Open AccessArticle

Maternal C-Peptide and Insulin Sensitivity, but Not BMI, Associate with Fatty Acids in the First Trimester of Pregnancy

Julia Bandres-Meriz

^1,*,

Alejandro Majali-Martinez

Denise Hoch

Milagros Morante

²,

Andreas Glasner

³,

Mireille N. M. van Poppel

⁴

Gernot Desoye

^1,*

and

Emilio Herrera

Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Medical University of Graz, 8036 Graz, Austria

Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidad San Pablo CEU, 28668 Madrid, Spain

Femina Med-Center, 8010 Graz, Austria

⁴

Institute of Human Movement Science, Sport and Health, University of Graz, 8010 Graz, Austria

Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Academic Editor: Marie-Pierre Piccinni

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021, 22(19), 10422; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms221910422

Received: 17 August 2021 / Revised: 19 September 2021 / Accepted: 24 September 2021 / Published: 27 September 2021

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Aspects of Inflammation in Pregnancy 2.0)

View Full-Text Download PDF

Browse Figures

Citation Export

Abstract

Maternal obesity in pregnancy is a pro-inflammatory condition exposing the fetus to an adverse environment. Here, we tested associations of maternal obesity (primary exposures: BMI, leptin) and metabolic parameters (secondary exposures: glucose, C-peptide, and insulin sensitivity) with total serum concentrations of fatty acids in the first trimester of human pregnancy. This cross-sectional study included 123 non-smoking women with singleton pregnancy. In maternal serum, cotinine, leptin, and C-peptide (ELISA), glucose (hexokinase-based test) and fatty acids (gas chromatography) were quantified, and the insulin sensitivity index (IS_HOMA) was calculated. Concentrations of fatty acid classes and total fatty acids did not differ between BMI or leptin categories. However, n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) were decreased in the category with the highest C-peptide concentration (n-3 PUFA: CI −35.82–−6.28, p < 0.006) and in the lowest IS_HOMA category (n-3 PUFA: CI −36.48–−5.61, p < 0.008). In a subcohort, in which fetal sex was determined (RT-qPCR of placental tissue), C-peptide was significantly associated with docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in mothers bearing a female (n = 46), but not male (n = 37) fetus. In conclusion, pregnant women with high fasting C-peptide and low IS_HOMA had decreased n-3 PUFA, and DHA was lower with higher C-peptide only in mothers bearing a female fetus. View Full-Text

Keywords: early pregnancy; obesity; fatty acids; glucose; C-peptide; insulin sensitivity; fetal sex

▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

Supplementary Material

Supplementary File 1:
ZIP-Document (ZIP, 373 KiB)

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Bandres-Meriz, J.; Majali-Martinez, A.; Hoch, D.; Morante, M.; Glasner, A.; van Poppel, M.N.M.; Desoye, G.; Herrera, E. Maternal C-Peptide and Insulin Sensitivity, but Not BMI, Associate with Fatty Acids in the First Trimester of Pregnancy. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021, 22, 10422. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms221910422

AMA Style

Bandres-Meriz J, Majali-Martinez A, Hoch D, Morante M, Glasner A, van Poppel MNM, Desoye G, Herrera E. Maternal C-Peptide and Insulin Sensitivity, but Not BMI, Associate with Fatty Acids in the First Trimester of Pregnancy. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2021; 22(19):10422. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms221910422

Chicago/Turabian Style

Bandres-Meriz, Julia, Alejandro Majali-Martinez, Denise Hoch, Milagros Morante, Andreas Glasner, Mireille N.M. van Poppel, Gernot Desoye, and Emilio Herrera. 2021. "Maternal C-Peptide and Insulin Sensitivity, but Not BMI, Associate with Fatty Acids in the First Trimester of Pregnancy" International Journal of Molecular Sciences 22, no. 19: 10422. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms221910422

Find Other Styles

Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Metrics

Abstract views Pdf views Html views

Article Menu

Maternal C-Peptide and Insulin Sensitivity, but Not BMI, Associate with Fatty Acids in the First Trimester of Pregnancy

Abstract

Supplementary Material

Share and Cite

Article Metrics

Article Access Statistics

Article Access Map by Country/Region

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI