Yun Sun,1,* Yi Wang,1,* Chao Liu,2 Jie Yang,3 Qinwen Li,1 Fei Zhao1 

1Department of Obstetrics, The Affiliated Taian City Central Hospital of Qingdao University, Taian, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Obstetrics, Taian Maternal and Child Care Health Hospital, Taian, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Liangshan County People’s Hospital, Jining, People’s Republic of China

*These authors contributed equally to this work

Correspondence: Qinwen Li; Fei Zhao, Department of Obstetrics, Taian Central Hospital (Taian Central Hospital affiliated to Qingdao University, Mount Taishan Medical Center), No. 29, Longtan Road, Mount Taishan District, Taian, Shandong, 271000, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86-13505482692, Email lqw81@126.com; 13505482692@163.com

Purpose: This study aims to identify key genes that may be involved in the pathogenesis of gestational diabetes mellitus and to preliminarily elucidate the underlying mechanisms.
Methods: High-throughput transcriptome sequencing was employed to identify Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in placental tissue samples of GDM and normal pregnant women. Functional and pathway analyses of these DEGs were conducted using bioinformatics databases. Significant DEGs were validated through real-time quantitative PCR in conjunction with relevant literature.
Results: In comparison to the normal pregnancy group, 435 DEGs were identified in the GDM group, comprising 128 upregulated and 307 downregulated genes. GO enrichment analysis revealed that DEGs were primarily associated with biological processes, such as cellular processes, biological regulation, regulation of biological processes, and response to stimuli. Cell component enrichment analysis indicated their association with cellular anatomical entities and protein-containing complexes. Molecular function enrichment analysis highlighted their roles in binding and catalytic activities. KEGG pathway enrichment analysis indicated the involvement of DEGs in signalling pathways related to PI3K-Akt signaling pathway and ECM-receptor interaction. qRT-PCR validation of five randomly selected DEGs confirmed consistent expression trends with RNA-Seq quantification.
Conclusion: YWHAB, LEP, CCL21, PAPPA2, and SFN may be potential biological markers for the diagnosis of GDM, involved in the occurrence and development of GDM, and have certain value for disease prediction and diagnosis.

Keywords: gestational diabetes, transcriptome sequencing, qRT-PCR validation, placental tissue, pathogenic genes