Background: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is defined as glucose intolerance with first dignosis during pregnancy. There is some evidence indicating that chemerin play a role in the development of GDM. In this study, for the first time, a possible association of rs17173608 polymorphism in the chemerin gene with the risk of GDM in Arak population was investigated.

Materials and Methods: In this case-control study, 120 GDM and 150 pregnant women with normal glucose tolerance were selected. GDM was confirmed by oral glucose tolerance according to the new IADPSG criteria. Genomic DNA was extracted from EDTA treated whole blood. The polymorphism of chemerin gene was determined using tetra-amplification refractory mutation system-polymerase chain reaction (T-ARMS-PCR).

Results: The genotype frequencies of  TT, GT and GG at rs17173608 were respectively 81.7%, 17.5% and 0.8% in the GDM group and 73.3%, 25.3% and 1.3% in the control group. There were no statistical differences in genotype frequencies between case group and the control group. Also, allele frequencies in the GDM group  (T 90.4% , G 9.6%), did not differ significantly from the control group ( T 96% ,G 14%). No association was found between genotype frequencies and FBS, 1h, 2 h and BMI.

Conclusion: The present study show that the rs17173608 polymorphism in the chemerin gene is not associated with the development of glucose intolerance and GDM in the studied population.