Lack of relationship between β₃-adrenergic receptor gene polymorphism and gestational diabetes mellitus in a Taiwanese population

The Trp64Arg polymorphism of β₃-adrenergic receptor (ADRB3) has been reported to be associated with insulin resistance and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). The objective of this study is to investigate whether the ADRB3 Arg variant confers susceptibility to GDM in a Taiwanese population. A total of 299 pregnant women (mean ± SD, 31.1 ± 4.2 years) was recruited. Two-hour, 75-g oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTT) were conducted at 24 to 31 weeks gestation (28.3 ± 1.6 weeks). Forty-one GDM subjects and 258 controls with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) level were genotyped for the ADRB3 Trp64Arg polymorphism. The genotype distribution and allele frequency of ADRB3 did not significantly differ between GDM and NGT subjects (9.8% v 14.5%). Body weight gain during pregnancy was not different between ADRB3 genotypes. However, the GDM subjects with the Arg64 variant had higher fasting (P = .04) and postload 120 minutes (P = .03) insulin levels as compared with the GDM subjects with the Trp64Trp allele. In all subjects, the women with the Arg64 allele (n = 76) had significantly higher level of insulin secretion (the ratio of Δinsulin₆₀/Δglucose₆₀) during OGTT than those without (n = 223) (P = .03) despite similar plasma levels of glucose and insulin in both genotypes. Our results indicated that the ADRB3 Trp64Arg variant is not related to the development of GDM and has no effect on obesity during pregnancy in a Taiwanese population. However, ADRB3 polymorphism might be a possible determinant of insulin resistance.