The metallome of the human placenta in gestational diabetes mellitus

Obtaining the knowledge of the ‘‘omics’’ and therefore of the metallomics of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) appears to be a necessary task to obtain information about the molecular causes of this disease. In this study, the metallome of GDM and of other types of diabetes mellitus was first reviewed. The comparative analysis of the published data revealed that no GDM elemental markers could be identified with sufficient reliability in blood or in the other considered samples, with the partial exception of selenium. The placenta was chosen as an alternative target organ for the analysis of the GDM metallome. The full elemental average composition of 19 healthy placentas was obtained by ICP-MS. Analyses were then performed on 28 placentas from women affected by GDM. The statistical tests and the principal component analysis evidenced that cadmium was found in lower concentrations and selenium was found in higher concentrations in GDM placentas than in those of the control group. These results were interpreted in light of literature data, and they attract attention on two key elements for understanding the molecular pathways of GDM.