Abstract

Background Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is the most popular metabolic disease during pregnancy. The aim of the present study was to investigate any possible association between eNOS Glu298Asp and ACE I/D gene polymorphisms and the risk of GDM in a group of Iranian pregnant women. Methods In this case-control study 204 pregnant women were recruited (94 cases and 110 controls). Genomic DNA was isolated from whole blood and genotyping was performed by the Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and only PCR for eNOS and ACE polymorphisms respectively. Results Frequencies of GT and TT genotype of eNOS polymorphism among women with and without GDM were 67.90 vs. 74.47 and 7.41 vs. 8.51 respectively (P = 0.4). Corresponding figures for DD genotype of ACE polymorphism among GDM patients was more than that in healthy women (51.65 vs. 63.81 respectively). Conversely, ACE heterozygote genotype was more common in diabetic women (35.16 vs. 26.67 respectively). Although these differences were not statistically significant (P = 0.2). Conclusions Our study showed that there is no association between the presence of eNOS and ACE gene polymorphisms and developing gestational diabetes mellitus among pregnant women in our population. Further longitudinal and multicenter studies should be carried out to assess the exact metabolic effects of these polymorphisms.