Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate plasma platelet-activating factor acetylhydrolase (PAF-AH) activity in euglycaemic women with history of gestational diabetes (GDM), and to explore whether this activity is associated with metabolic syndrome (MS) in this group of women.
Methods: The cross-sectional study included 36 women with history of GDM and 40 women with history of normal glucose tolerance in pregnancy (control group).
Results: Compared to the controls, the GDM group had significantly higher mean values for serum glucose, insulin, HOMA-IR, triglyceride, GGT and plasma PAF-AH activity, and a statistically higher prevalence of MS. Within the GDM group, women diagnosed with MS had significantly higher PAF-AH activity than those without MS (p=0.002).
Conclusion: This is the first study to have shown that plasma PAF-AH activity and GGT levels may be significant for evaluating atherosclerosis risk and metabolic hepatic damage in women with history of GDM.