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Serum betaine and dimethylglycine in mid-pregnancy and the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus: a case-control study

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Abstract

Purpose

To investigate the associations of choline, betaine, dimethylglycine (DMG), L-carnitine, and Trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) with the risk of Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) as well as the markers of glucose homeostasis.

Methods

We performed a case-control study including 200 diagnosed GDM cases and 200 controls matched by maternal age (±2 years) and gestational age (±2 weeks). Concentrations of serum metabolites were measured by the high-performance liquid chromatography - tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS).

Results

Compared to the control group, GDM group had significantly lower serum betaine concentration and betaine/choline ratio, and higher DMG concentration. Furthermore, decreased betaine concentration and betaine/choline ratio, increased DMG concentration showed significant association with the risk of GDM. In addition, serum betaine concentrations were negatively associated with blood glucose levels at 1-h post-glucose load (OGTT-1h), and both betaine and L-carnitine concentrations were positively associated with 1,5-anhydroglucitol levels. Betaine/choline ratio was negatively associated with OGTT-1h and blood glucose levels at 2-h post-glucose load (OGTT-2h) and serum choline concentrations were negatively associated with fasting blood glucose and positively associated with OGTT-2h.

Conclusion

Decreased serum betaine concentrations and betaine/choline ratio, and elevated DMG concentrations could be significant risk factors for GDM. Furthermore, betaine may be associated with blood glucose regulation and short-term glycemic fluctuations.

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Acknowledgements

We are very grateful for the cooperation of the pregnant women who participated in these studies.

Funding

The research was supported by basic research project of Shenzhen Science and Technology Research Projects (JCYJ20220530162412029), Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Committee (KJYY20180703173402020), Shenzhen City and Longgang District Science and Technology Innovation Projects (LGKCYLWS2022008) and Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (2023A1515030168).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui Province, China

    Ziqing Zhou & Fengxiang Wei

  2. The Genetics Laboratory, Longgang District Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital of Shenzhen City (Longgang Maternity and Child Institute of Shantou University Medical College), Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China

    Ziqing Zhou, Yao Yao, Yanan Sun, Xin Wang, Shang Huang & Fengxiang Wei

  3. Medical Insurance Office of Shenzhen Longgang Central Hospital, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China

    Yanan Sun

  4. Jiamusi University, Jiamusi, Heilongjiang Province, China

    Xin Wang

  5. Shenzhen Children’s Hospital of China Medical University, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China

    Shang Huang

  6. Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Longgang District Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital of Shenzhen City (Longgang Maternity and Child Institute of Shantou University Medical College), Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China

    Jianli Hou

  7. Department of Nutrition, School of Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China

    Lijun Wang

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  1. Ziqing Zhou
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Contributions

Z.Z. study design, data analysis and manuscript preparation; Y.Y. methodology; Y.S., X.W., S.H., and J.H. investigation; L.W. and F.W. review and editing. The final manuscript was reviewed and approved by all authors.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Lijun Wang or Fengxiang Wei.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

Consent to participate

Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.

Ethics approval

The current study was conducted according to the guidelines laid down in the Declaration of Helsinki and all procedures involving research study participants were approved by the Ethical Committee of Longgang District Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital of Shenzhen City (Approval NO. LGFYYXLLL-2022-039).

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Zhou, Z., Yao, Y., Sun, Y. et al. Serum betaine and dimethylglycine in mid-pregnancy and the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus: a case-control study. Endocrine (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12020-024-03732-4

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