Arch. Endocrinol. Metab. 2017;61(3):208-210
Gestational diabetes mellitus and type 2 diabetes: same disease in a different moment of life? Maybe not
DOI: 10.1590/2359-3997000000276
Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a medical condition that has motivated many debates in the last decades regarding its etiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, treatment and long-term consequences to the mother and to the fetus.
Women who develop GDM present a metabolic condition similar to that found in type 2 diabetes (T2D) characterized by insulin resistance associated with inadequate insulin secretion (). Due to similar pathophysiologic mechanisms found between T2D and GDM, there is a great interest in finding markers that will lead to the understanding of a possible common origin to both diseases. Women with GDM also present an inflammatory state that, together with insulin resistance can alter placental gene transcription and many features of fetal programming, that can lead to the development of several metabolic diseases later in life such as glucose intolerance, metabolic syndrome and also a high risk of presenting cardiovascular disease. Women with GDM have sevenfold higher risk of having T2D in the future ().
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