ABSTRACT
Diabetes is one of the diseases that most frequently complicate the course of pregnancy, especially in developed countries where the increased incidence of obesity is one of the risk factors. Metabolomics, thanks to its capacity to investigate the overall metabolic state of an entire organism, appears to be a promising technique also in the study of Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and the recognition of possible new biomarkers to reveal at an early stage the women at higher risk of developing this pathological condition. By GDM is meant a condition characterized by a reduced tolerance to glucides, with hyperglycemia of varying seriousness that begins during pregnancy. Pregnancy is a condition during which a certain degree of insulin resistance develops physiologically, especially in muscle and adipose tissues, to ensure fetal growth. GDM causes an increased risk of morbidity in the fetus and neonate and may be cause of a later development of type 2 diabetes, in both the mother and the child.
