Increased Proportion of Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cell Population in Cord Blood of Neonates Born to Mothers with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus

We assessed the hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell (HSPC) population in the cord blood of neonates born to mothers with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in a hypothesis generating pilot study, due to that, neonatal poly-cythemia may be the consequence of GDM pregnancy. Forty-five pregnant women with GDM (last trimester mean HbA1C=33.9mmol/mol) and 42 (nondiabetic) control pregnant women were enrolled after their routine 75g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) between the 24th and 28th gestational week (with expected differences in their mean routine clinical characteristics: plasma glucose at OGTT: 0 ¢ =5.07 vs. 4.62mM, 120 ¢ =8.9 vs. 5.76mM, age=35.07 vs. 31.66 years, prepregnancy body mass index=27.9 vs. 23.9 kg/m2, GDM vs. control, respectively) on a voluntary basis after signing the informedconsent.EDTA-treated cordblood sampleswere analyzedbyflowcytometry and the software Kaluza1.2 using CD45 and CD34-specific fluorescent antibodies to identify the HSPC population (CD34+ cells within theCD45dimblast gate).TheproportionofCD34+CD45dimHSPCsamong thenucleatedcellswas significantly (P<0.05, statistical power=60.8%) higher in the cord blood samples of neonates born to mothers with GDM (median 0.38%) compared to neonates born to nondiabeticmothers (median 0.32%) and according to treatment types (P<0.05)median: control 0.32%,GDM-diet only0.37%,GDM-on insulin 0.45%;control versusGDMon insulin (P<0.05).The increased proportion of circulating CD34+CD45dim cells in the cord blood may possibly be related to altered fetal stem cell mobilization inGDMpregnancy,yet these results shouldbe interpretedonlyaspreliminarydue to the small sample sizes