The Role of Adiponectin in Gestational Diabetes Mellitus, Preeclampsia and Obesity during pregnancy: A Systematic Review

Adipokines are hormones secreted from adipose tissue in response to extracellular stimuli and changes in metabolism. These hormones are involved in the regulation of energy homeostasis, lipid metabolism and insulin sensitivity. Adiponectin is one of these adipokines that has anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory and anti-atherogenic properties. The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the role of adiponectin in gestational diabetes mellitus, preeclampsia and obesity during pregnancy.
To conduct this research, a systematic of descriptive _observational studies by review was conducted searching databases, i.e PubMed, Iran Medex, SID, Google Scholar, between January 2000-February 2017, using the related keywords.The quality of the extracted articles was evaluated based on the STORBE checklist of contents and finally 20 articles were analyzed.
Adiponectin levels early in pregnancy increased, and with increasing insulin resistance during pregnancy, these levels gradually declined in maternal circulation and adipose tissue. Decreased adiponectin concentrations were also observed in obesity and gestational diabetes mellitus and can exacerbate insulin resistance, although levels of this hormone appears to increase in preeclampsia.
These results indicate that reducing adiponectin levels is possibly involved in insulin resistance during pregnancy, obesity and gestational diabetes mellitus and the increase in levels of this hormone in preeclampsia is probably a physiological response to improving vascular function and insulin sensitivity.