OneinSeven Gestational Diabetes Genetic and Socioeconomic Risk Study

Gestational diabetes is a condition where high blood glucose levels occur during pregnancy and the mother was not diabetic before pregnancy. Between 6-9% of pregnancies are affected by this disorder. Gestational diabetes is usually diagnosed with a glucose challenge test where a blood glucose level of 190mg/dL or above would be indicative of gestational diabetes. This test usually occurs around 24-28 weeks into pregnancy. If a patient has other risk factors such as obesity or family history of diabetes, the assessment may be performed earlier.

Gestational diabetes increases risk of complications in both the mother and the baby. For the child, it may result in excessive weight at birth, a preterm birth, hypoglycemia, Type II diabetes later in life, and potential stillbirth. For the mother, it drastically increases the risk of high blood pressure, preeclampsia, and developing diabetes later in life. Gestational diabetes can also lead to further pregnancy related complications and increased risk of maternal morbidity and mortality events.

Very few genome-wide association studies have been carried out to correlate genetic variants to gestational diabetes, and have identified a small non-exhaustive number of genes linked to the condition. The list comprises genes encoding transcription factors such as TCF7L2 and genes required for glucose processing such as GCK and GCKR. Many of these genes are also associated with the risk of Type II diabetes. A large number of GWAS have identified genes tightly associated with Type II diabetes including CDKALI 1, FOXO1, GCKR and FTO, and the risk of gestational diabetes and type II is strongly correlated. These variants, along with demonstrated non-genetic risk factors such as obesity and high blood pressure, have demonstrated a clear ability to assess risk of different types of diabetes including gestational diabetes . However, there are currently no PRS for gestational diabetes available as a market product in any country. Additionally, the studies mentioned above do not wholly combine genome data with sociodemographic and lifestyle risks. Very few large scale GWAS studies have focused solely on female participants or pregnancy related complications. Further, existing literature and publications lack diversity among female participants and often focus on specific sub-populations. Prenome intends to conduct a large-scale GWAS in conjunction with the additional socioeconomic qualifications to generate a novel PRS to assess the risk of gestational diabetes with focus on inclusion of diverse populations in our samples. With these added quantifications of qualitative data, Prenome's PRS will be more representative of a patient's personal health and risk of developing gestational diabetes.