Evaluation of the role of oxidative stress in gestational diabetes mellitus through dynamic thiol-disulfide balance

Aim: Recent studies of DM have shown that the effects of the cellular antioxidant defense system are reduced and that reactive oxygen radicals increase, but the effects of oxidative stress on GDM are not clearly known. The aim of this study was to evaluate the presence of oxidative stress in GDM by means of dynamic thiol-disulfide balance. Material and Method: The study was prospective and was performed between October 2018 and December 2018. The study included 34 pregnant women with GDM and 30 healthy pregnant women aged between 18-40 years who had 75 grams oral OGTT between 24th and 40th weeks and 37 non-pregnant women between 18-40 years of age. Serum thiol and disulfide levels were measured. Correlations of parameters in control, GDM, non-pregnant groups were examined. Results: When the BMI of the GDM group and non-pregnant groups were compared, the BMI of the control group and GDM groups were compared, there was a statistically significant difference between the groups (p <0.001). The non-pregnant group had significantly higher levels of native thiol and total thiol than GDM and control. The nonpregnant group had significantly lower index 1 and index 2 levels than the control and GDM groups. When the total thiol and native thiol levels of the non-pregnant group and the control groups were compared and the native thiol levels of the non-pregnant group and GDM groups were compared, there was a statistically significant difference between the groups (p <0.001). There was a statistically significant difference between the total thiol levels of GDM and control groups (p = 0.015). Disulfide levels were significantly different between non-pregnant and GDM groups, and between GDM and control groups (p <0.002, p <0.010). Conclusion: Our study was found to be consistent with the results of previous studies in which thiol/disulfide balance was measured in the evaluation of antioxidant capacity in pregnant women. Key Words: Gestational diabetes mellitus, thiol-disulfide, oxidative stress, pregnancy