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Increasing prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus when carrying the T variant allele of the MTHFR gene C677T polymorphism: a systematic review and meta-analysis

  • Gynecologic Endocrinology and Reproductive Medicine
  • Published:
Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Previous epidemiological data linking the C677T and A1298C MTHFR polymorphisms to gestational diabetes risk have been mixed and controversial. Therefore, we conducted this meta-analysis to derive a more precise estimation of the relationship between MTHFR polymorphisms and this pregnancy disorder.

Methods

A systematic literature search for original epidemiological studies was performed in the CNKI, WanFang, Cochrane Library, PubMed, and Web of Science databases. R language-based programs were employed for all statistical analyses. Odds ratios and corresponding 95% confidence intervals were calculated to estimate the effects of the variant allele on gestational diabetes risk.

Results

A summary of the estimates for the C677T polymorphism showed that the exposure cohorts were prone to gestational diabetes by a greater magnitude than the control groups. Further subgroup analysis by ethnicity showed that the Asians carrying the variant T allele were more susceptible to this pregnancy disorder. However, the pathogenic effect was not evident in the non-Asian subgroup. For the A1298C polymorphism, no statistical significance could be detected.

Conclusion

This meta-analysis suggests that the T allele of the MTHFR gene C677T polymorphism tends to increase gestational diabetes susceptibility, especially for Asians. However, the A1298C polymorphism is not associated with an increased risk of this crippling pregnancy disorder.

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The corresponding author has all the data and materials.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the continuous support from the Pedagogical Reform Program of Soochow University. Our special appreciation goes to Shanghai Jiayin Biotechnology Co., Ltd for the expert advice on statistical analysis.

Funding

This study was supported by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions; the special fund of Soochow University for medical college students’ extracurricular scientific research; and the Undergraduate Training Program for Innovation and Entrepreneurship [grant number: 201910285051Z, 202010285043Z, and 202110285150Y].

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Author notes

  1. Yanjie Chen, Minyan Lu, Jinyi Nie, and Jianjun Liu contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Systems Biology, Department of Bioinformatics, School of Biology and Basic Medical Sciences, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, China

    Yanjie Chen, Minyan Lu, Jinyi Nie, Yu Liu & Xiaoqin Yang

  2. Medical College, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, China

    Minyan Lu, Jinyi Nie & Ye Meng

  3. Department of Toxicology, School of Public Health, Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, China

    Jianjun Liu & Jie Zhang

  4. Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Preventive and Translational Medicine for Geriatric Diseases, School of Public Health, Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, China

    Jianjun Liu & Jie Zhang

  5. Department of Genetics, School of Biology and Basic Medical Sciences, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, China

    Cheng Ji

  6. Division of Biomedical and Life Sciences, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YW, UK

    Xiaohan Sun

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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by YC, ML, JN, JL, and YL. The first draft of the manuscript was written by JZ and XY and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Jie Zhang or Xiaoqin Yang.

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Chen, Y., Lu, M., Nie, J. et al. Increasing prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus when carrying the T variant allele of the MTHFR gene C677T polymorphism: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Arch Gynecol Obstet 305, 1193–1202 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-021-06303-4

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