Disease information

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is characterised as the development of glucose intolerance. Intolerance is not present prior to pregnancy and after childbirth. Risk factors for developing GDM are polycystic ovary syndrome, family history of diabetes and ethnicity. of African and south Asian. Women with GDM tend to be overweight and obese, in particular from African and south-Asian background [Gomez-Arango et al 2016]. Pregnancy causes hormonal changes predisposing to increase risk of insulin resistance. The hormones elicit difficulty to use glucose for energy leading to the accumulation of glucose, resulting in high blood sugar. Metabolic hormone environment during maternity initiates changes in the gut microbiome. There has been faecal samples and murine experiments showing that GDM is related to decrease in production of butyrate and increase in lactate-producing bacteria, Bifidobacterium and Proteobacteria [Kuang et al, 2017]. The changes in microbiota initiates elevation of inflammation and adiposity [Koren et al, 2012]. The gestational inflammation is thought to be a function in emergence of GDM. 20 million or 16% of live births had some form of hyperglycaemia in pregnancy. An estimated 84% were due to gestational diabetes.