Characteristics of bone turnover markers in women with gestational diabetes mellitus

Abstract Background Bone turnover markers (BTMs) can be applied to the assessment of bone formation and bone resorption activity. The aim of this study was to investigate the changes in BTMs in women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Methods One hundred and five women with gestational diabetes mellitus defined as the GDM group and 46 healthy pregnant women with normal glucose tolerance selected as the control group were enrolled in this study. Serum samples were collected during regular obstetric examinations and the serum levels of total procollagen type 1 N-terminal propeptide (P1NP), N-terminal midfragment of osteocalcin (N-MID), and β-C-terminal telopeptide of type 1 collagen (β-CTX) were measured. An independent-sample t-test, the Mann–Whitney U test, and a Pearson correlation analysis were performed for data analyses. Results Serum β-CTX levels in the GDM group were significantly higher than those in the control group (296.00 [235.00–369.00] pg/mL vs. 218.5 [165.25–292.50] pg/mL, p  Conclusions The difference in β-CTX levels indicated that bone resorption in patients with GDM diabetes was higher than that in pregnant women with normal glucose tolerance. No obvious differences in bone formation markers P1NP and N-MID were found between the two groups.