Perinatal Plasma Carotenoids and Vitamin E Concentrations with Glycemia and Insulin Resistance in Women during and after Pregnancy

Abstract

We examined the associations of perinatal plasma carotenoids and E vitamers concentrations with glycemia, insulin resistance, and gestational and type 2 diabetes mellitus during pregnancy and post-pregnancy in GUSTO women. Plasma carotenoid and E vitamer concentrations were measured at delivery, and principal component analysis was used to derive the patterns of their concentrations. Fasting and 2 h glucose levels and fasting insulin were measured at 26� weeks gestation and 4�years post-pregnancy, with the derivation of homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). In 678 women, two carotenoid patterns (CP1: ?- and ?-carotene and lutein; CP2: zeaxanthin, lycopene, and ?-cryptoxanthin) and one E vitamer pattern (VE: ?-, ?-, and ?-tocopherols) were derived. A higher CP1 score (1-SD) was associated with lower gestational fasting glucose (? (95%CI): ?0.06 (?0.10, ?0.02) mmol/L) and lower gestational (?0.17 (?0.82, 0.01) mmol/L, p = 0.06) and post-pregnancy HOMA-IR (?0.11 (?0.15, ?0.08) mmol/L). A higher VE score (1 SD) was associated with higher gestational and post-pregnancy fasting and 2 h glucose (gestational: 0.05 (0.01, 0.08) and 0.08 (0.01, 0.16); post-pregnancy: 0.19 (0.07, 0.31) and 0.24 (0.06, 0.42) mmol/L). Higher ?- and ?-carotene and lutein may be beneficial for gestational fasting glycemia, but higher vitamin E may increase gestational and post-pregnancy glycemia, although these findings require confirmation in cohorts with prospective longitudinal measurements of these vitamins.