The role of intestinal microbiota in the development of complications in pregnant women with gestational diabetes

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) has been declared as one of the pandemics of our time and its prevalence is 5–20% in the European population. It causes the search for new pathogenetic risk factors in order to develop effective measures for the prevention and treatment of this disease. The intestinal microbiota plays an important role in maintaining the basic functions in the human body — metabolic, protective and trophic, and it undergoes significant changes during pregnancy. It has now been proven that dysbiosis alters intestinal metabolism and can lead to the development of diabetes. The direct relationships between intestinal microflora species and circulating levels of insulin, triglycerides and very-low-density lipoproteins were found. In a number of studies, associations of various concentrations of intestinal microbiota metabolites with the probability of developing GDM were analyzed. Studies conducted in a group of women with complicated pregnancy revealed changes in the diversity and structure of the intestinal microbiota in women with preeclampsia and arterial hypertension. Therefore, all authors emphasize the need for studies that expand our understanding of the relationship of various intestinal microbiota disorders with the risk of developing GDM and its specific progressing.